Simply Different (On Hiatus)
by Serena0718
Summary: Aaliyah Mitchell, moves in with her uncle at the same time as her cousin (Isabella Swan). After struggling with the loss of her parents and memories she wishes to forget, she hopes she can adjust to the new environment and family she now has. What she didn't realise was how hard living in a small town like Forks could be, especially when the mystifying Cullen family lived there.
1. New Beginnings

I wasn't expecting my life to change so dramatically. It was sudden and unexpected not that anyone would expect something like that to happen. But I didn't want to dwell on it. The past is the past right? If you can't change it then I guess all I could do was focus on the future and try to move past it, but I had a feeling it was gonna take time. And a lot of it. Right now I was on my way to Forks, Washington with my 4 year old brother and sister. They were non-identical twins who were oblivious to the problems that were surrounding us. Of course they did notice something was wrong as they tried -with difficulty might I add- to get used to the absence of our parents. I swallowed thickly, realising the future they had once, had now been ripped away. I sniffed strongly and pushed the thoughts to the back of my mind and distracted myself with the scenery passing by. Holding my sketch book closer I tried to find an image of interest to capture, but the slight bumping of the cruiser made it difficult.

Uncle Charlie had picked us up from the airport as soon as we had arrived with a tight smile and grief in his eyes. There was little talk apart from the general welcome and distracting chit-chat that came to fill the silence as we got to the car. Annabelle and Adrian peered up curiously at him donned in his police uniform most likely wondering who this foreign man was. In the four years that had passed since their birth they hadn't once met Charlie seeing as we couldn't ever find a moment free but considering we were going to be living with him from now on it didn't matter.

"Welcome to Forks guys." Charlie muttered pulling me from my musings. I breathed in and glanced outside, watching a 'Welcome to Forks' sign pass by. I smiled as I noticed how much greenery there was, something we didn't really have in Chicago. Personally, I didn't think there was enough nature there although the numerous beaches accounted for that. Forks was definitely going to be different with the lack of sun and constant rain. The soft sounds of snoring made itself clear to our ears and I chuckled slightly as I saw the two twins sleeping soundly.

"I guess it's a good thing we're almost home!" Charlie laughed with amusement as he caught sight of the two in his mirror.

"Yeah, home." I muttered softly as we started to come up to a blue two story house that I would be getting used to. I got out of the cruiser and closed the passenger door carefully. Hoisting my bag up higher I opened the back door of the car, carefully unbuckling Adrian as not to wake him up. His warm breath tickled my neck as I placed his head on my shoulder so he could continue his slumber; once again closed the door. In the time I had taken to do that, Charlie had already taken hold of Annabelle and grabbed a bag from the trunk. I followed his steps as he guided me to the door of the house and unlocked it with ease. Walking in, I took notice of the pictures adorning the mantle of the fireplace as well as the walls. There were multiple pictures of a little girl with a sweetheart shaped face and doe brown eyes. With realisation I came to the conclusion that the girl was Bella, my cousin and Charlie's daughter. It was nice to see that although she didn't live with him, his love for her was still strong. Charlie nodded his head in the direction of the stairs, as he began to carry Annabelle up them, signalling me to follow him. I did as requested trying not to disturb Adrian as I walked up careful not to trip. I was led into a cream coloured room with two single beds at opposite ends of the room with a chest at the end of each. There was a chestnut brown wardrobe in the middle at the back and a chest of drawers next to a door that I assumed led to a small space for more clothes. Charlie placed Annabelle under the covers of her new bed as she stirred slightly, before falling into a deep slumber once more. I did the same with Adrian before dropping a brief kiss to his forehead while pulling up the deep blue covers of his duvet to ensure he remained warm.

"It isn't much but I hope it's enough for these two. I figured that they wouldn't need as much space as you but would probably still need quite a bit so-" Charlie began to ramble before I cut him off.

"Uncle Charlie, it's fine honestly, in fact it's perfect." I assured with a soft smile.

"Right. That's good." He replied with a nod shifting awkwardly. "Uh, I guess I'll show you your room now. You'll be sharing with Bella of course so you might not be used to the lack of space but there should be enough room. Unfortunately there's only one desk in there for work but there are two chest of drawers and a closet and wardrobe for you guys to separate your clothes." He informed me scratching his neck as he showed me the room I'd be sharing. For a room that would be shared by two teen girls it was quite spacious. There were another two beds, slightly bigger than the ones that the twins had, placed at opposite walls and a chest of drawers next to each that Charlie had mentioned. There was a closet near one bed and a wardrobe next to the other while a desk with a lamp and a shelf sat in the corner accompanied by a chair.

"This is perfect actually. More than enough. I'm sorry that you had to spend so much money on the three of us though..." I trailed off feeling guilt as I realised Charlie would've had to sort all this out for us before we arrived.

"Please, Aaliyah, I had more than enough money saved up. I only ever had to buy for myself so I'm glad that I have others to share that with." Charlie said rubbing my shoulder with hesitation. Feeling at ease with him I gave him a hug before retracting quickly and turning to pick the bed with the pale yellow sheets. I heard a deep breath from Charlie before he spoke, "I'll go bring the rest of the bags up." His heavy footsteps faded away as I unzipped my bag and emptied it onto the bed. I placed the framed pictures I had carefully wrapped on my drawers angling them to my desires then resumed with taking my things out. I put my laptop on the corner of the desk seeing as there was no other suitable place and hoped that Bella wouldn't see it as me claiming the desk. I heard a thud behind me and jumped slightly, panic rising in me. Turning around I noticed it was Charlie with multiple bags in his hands.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He apologised.

"No worries." I smiled as I tried controlling my heartbeat.

"Okay, um I'm gonna have to get going in a few minutes to pick Bella up in time, I just wanted you to get settled in before she arrived. You'll be okay by yourself right?" He asked furrowing his brows knowing that the last time I was alone with just my parents it hadn't ended well.

"Yeah, I'll be fine!" I beamed the lie slipping through my lips with ease.

"You sure?" He asked with worry. I was happy knowing that Charlie cared about my feelings and it made me feel better knowing he cared about my safety and that he wouldn't leave me alone if I was at any risk.

"Absolutely." I replied with more honesty this time.

"Well, I guess I'll see you in a few then. You have my number if you need anything and if you get hungry there's food in the kitchen. Make yourself at home." He told me with warmth as he started to head out to pick up Bella.

"Will do." I said moving the bags around to check which ones were mine and which ones belonged to the twins. As the front door closed I sighed.

"I wonder when this will start _feeling_ like home." I whispered as I tried finding comfort in the new environment I was in. Forks seemed nice enough but it would take time to get used to it. I decided to distract myself unpacking and putting the bags away before I became too lazy. I walked into Adrian and Annabelle's room with their bags and laid them down to unzip them. Time passed quickly as I finished putting their clothes away in a neat and ordered fashion along with their toys which found their place in the two chests. As I moved back into my shared room, I glanced through the window and saw that the cruiser was back. A familiar girl with brown tresses of hair got out of the car and timidly looked around while Charlie grabbed her bags. They looked just as awkward as I had felt earlier when I arrived. I moved away from the window towards my bed and started to unpack my things realising that the two would be up here soon. And true enough, within a moment, the two were standing in the bedroom doorway. There was an awkward silence as Bella and I analysed each other before she gave me a brief smile which I returned. Charlie cleared his throat unnecessarily before starting,

"Bella you remember Aaliyah right? She's gonna be staying with us from now on. Her little brother and sister are in the room down that hall across from mine." He mentioned scratching his neck again. I noticed this was a sign of his awkwardness.

"Yeah, of course I remember! I haven't seen you in a while. It'll be nice to have someone to know in this town now." She spoke shyly.

"Yeah, hopefully we can get to know each other a bit better before school tomorrow." I smiled at her. Bella and I were close once but we had drifted apart over the few years that had passed without seeing each other.

"Well, I'll leave you two alone." Charlie stated bluntly before exiting the room.

"So, I'm guessing this bed is mine?" She asked walking over to her purple covered bed.

"Unless you want this one? I hope you don't mind that I took this one." I spoke quickly hoping she wasn't irritated.

"No of course not! This bed's fine and I like purple so I guess that's cool." She spoke reassuring me.

"Oh, okay that's good. Oh, um I put my laptop on the desk over there. There wasn't really any space anywhere else." I mentioned.

"That's fine." She said placing the cactus I had only just noticed on the shelf. It was a strange thing to have but I ignored it easily not judging her. She looked around taking in the room and saw the closet and wardrobe in the room as well as the two drawers.

"Do you mind sharing the closet and wardrobe or do you want your own space?" She asked nervously.

"No, I don't mind, I mean this is your room too!" I answered nonchalantly. We began packing our clothes away making small talk about ourselves. I told her about the twins and soon enough we were done with unpacking and were just having friendly conversation. I could feel the bond we once had coming back and smiled hoping that this time it stayed.

"Hey, um. I'm sorry about what happened. You didn't deserve it. None of you did." She spoke as our conversation changed. Memories appeared and the pain I had felt brought fresh tears to my green eyes.

"It's okay, it's not your fault. No-one could've helped so don't apologise." I whispered looking down as I tried to hold back the salty streams.

"I didn't mean to make you cry. I won't bring it up again. I'm so sorry!" She exclaimed rubbing my arm gently.

"Bells, honestly it's fine. Besides, I'd rather get the emotions out now instead of at school." I tried to joke failing terribly. She laughed lightly anyway.

"Oh God, we wouldn't want the town to start gossiping about that would we?" She added making me laugh.

"No, they've got enough ammo with the four of us here!" I laughed as my tears stopped and the memories dissolved.

"Speaking of which, how old are the other two? I haven't met them yet." Bella said as her brown eyes sparked with curiosity.

"They're four years old. They're called Adrian and Annabelle, Adrian's older by 19 minutes." I smiled thinking of them.

"Wow. You know I've never really been around kids before..."She trailed off wringing her hands awkwardly. I rolled my eyes at her nerves.

"You'll be fine. They're very good kids and I'm not just saying that 'cause I'm their big sister." I told her putting my hands in the air laughing.

"That's good!" She smiled. Suddenly a loud beep came from outside. I gave Bella a questioning look as we both wandered over to the window to see Charlie and two others with him.

"Do you know who they are?" She asked as we made our way down.

"Not sure, they look familiar though." I replied trying to recall where I had seen them.

"Hey you two! You guys remember Billy and Jacob right?" Charlie asked as we both walked out tentatively.

"Right, of course!" Bella replied as we looked between the man restrained to his wheelchair and The younger boy beside him with long flowing locks of black hair.

"Wow, you girls have sure grown up since I last saw you!" Billy exclaimed with a smile.

Bella and I exchanged awkward smiles as we received the compliment.

"And thank God you're here now! He wouldn't stop talking about all of you!" He teased as Charlie blushed looking down. The two of them began 'play-fighting' with each other as the boy- Jacob- approached us with an embarrassed grin on his face.

"Hey, I'm Jacob." He smiled boyishly at Bella.

"I remember you! We used make mud pies together when we were younger!" I interjected as I realised where the feeling of familiarity stemmed from. My defensive stance relaxed as I realised we were too once close friends.

"That's right, Aaliyah isn't it?" He asked with a friendly grin.

"Yep and this is Isabella or as she prefers, Bella." I mentioned including the aforementioned girl in the conversation.

"Are they always like this?" Bella asked sheepishly, gesturing towards the older men still goofing around, as a dusty pink blush covered her cheeks.

"Most of the time, it's getting worse with old age!" Jacob joked shaking his head.

"So what do you think?" Charlie asked walking up to a rusty orange coloured truck that was parked in the driveway.

"About the truck?" Bella queried wearily, eyes gleaming with hidden excitement.

"Well, yeah, it's your homecoming present... I bought it off of Billy here." Charlie revealed with yet another wave of awkwardness overcoming him.

"I-I love it! Thanks Ch- Dad!" Bella exclaimed running her hands over her new car. I smiled at the cover up as she gave her father the first real smile I'd seen since she had arrived.

"And, I managed to pull a few tricks and get you this Aaliyah." Charlie said bringing us around the truck. My eyes widened and I began to stammer not quite sure what to say. So instead I launched myself at my uncle and gave him the strongest hug I could.

"I can't believe it! How did you get my car sent here?" I asked, still shocked, running my hand over my red Mazda.

"It doesn't matter, but at least now you have something from home and there should be a few items arriving over the next couple of weeks from your house too." Charlie mentioned waving off my question.

I smiled inwards as I thanked Charlie again for his kindness making him blush again. I figured that he'd keep doing that for a while.

I returned to the other side of Bella's Chevy only to see her accidentally hit Jacob with her door. Her offhand apology brought me to laughter as Jacob made his way to the passenger seat in slight pain. You could tell that even though he'd only met her a few minutes ago, he had already fallen for her. I came up to her window, joining in on their conversation, when Jacob had admitted he went to school on the Rez.

"Oh, right. That's too bad. Aaliyah and I would've loved to know someone else who actually went to that school."

"Yeah, but maybe we can still hang out outside of school. And at least we have each other at school Bells." I reminded her, hoping to lift her spirits.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." she smiled.

After talking to Billy and Jacob for a while longer, they eventually left and so Charlie, Bella and I headed inside. I began to feel a bit hungry after not eating since we left Chicago and I knew that the twins would be even hungrier so I grabbed Bella and we both headed upstairs to wake the twins. I opened the door and noticed Adrian already starting wake up, Annabelle on the other hand was still snoring away. I laughed slightly walking over to Adrian as he sat with his mussed blonde hair sticking in multiple directions.

"Hiya handsome!" I greeted him as I kneeled down to pick him up. He reached out his small arms and wrapped them around my neck loosely as I rose up with him.

"You hungry?" I asked gently as he blinked away his tiredness.

"Yeah." He muttered before setting his eyes on Bella. She was lingering in the doorway not quite sure what to do with herself.

"Adrian, this is Bella." I introduced to him as his little eyes analysed her.

"Bella?" He asked practicing the foreign name.

"We're gonna be staying with her and Uncle Charlie." I said as she cautiously walked over to meet him.

"Uh, hi." she greeted awkwardly. Adrian stretched out his hands signalling her to take him from my hands.

"Oh uh, I don't want to drop him!" She spoke immediately.

I laughed at the thought of her being scared to hold a four year old. "You won't you'll be fine."

I gently leaned towards her as she slowly pulled him onto her hip with a carefulness I never knew the clumsy girl had. Adrian nestled his head into her neck as he acquainted himself with her. Leaving him in her arms, I went to rouse Annabelle from her slumber.

"Annabelle? Honey, it's time to eat." I spoke softly in her ear. Her eyebrows furrowed slightly as I disturbed her sleep.

"C'mon Annie, wake up." I encouraged her shaking her shoulders slightly. Her eyes fluttered open as a yawn escaped her mouth. She stretched her arms before sitting up and facing me.

"I'm hungry."

"I know. Come downstairs and I'll make you and Adrian some food okay?" I asked as she got out of bed.

"Okay." She obliged grabbing hold of my outstretched hand. Bella led the way taking extra care climbing down the stairs and stopped in the kitchen as she placed Adrian on the ground.

"Where are we?" He asked not recognising his surroundings.

"This is our new home."

"Why?" Annabelle asked. I froze as they both waited for a reply. I didn't know what to say. I wasn't expecting them to be alert enough to ask questions like this.

"Um, you're here because me and my dad wanted you to stay. We felt lonely on our own so you'll be staying with us now." Bella interjected with a swift lie.

"Oh. But where's our mommy and daddy?" Adrian asked. I felt my throat tighten. What are we supposed to tell them? They're too young to know that their parents are dead.

"Aaliyah?" Annabelle pushed. I knelt down to their level pulling them close.

"Um, mommy and daddy had to go away. They'll be gone for a very long time but they miss us very much and they know we miss them too. They love us all a lot and they didn't want to go but they had to, but we'll see them again." I said honestly yet remaining vague about the details.

"They didn't say goodbye though." Annabelle muttered.

"No, they thought it would've made us sad that they were leaving." I lied yet at the same time I knew that they wouldn't understand the truth until they were much older. The silence filled the room until Bella cleared her throat.

"So what do you guys wanna eat?" She asked distracting them from the conversation. They began telling her all about they're favourite foods and what they usually had. I sat at the counter thinking about our parents. I hadn't had a chance to properly grieve in everything that had happened and I wouldn't be able to unless I wanted to alert the twins that something was wrong. Every now and then I cried a little but it was only a little and definitely not enough to help me move on. But I didn't want to think about all those problems right now and I had to stay strong. After eating, the twins retired back to their beds, along with Bella and I, who had decided that the jet-lag was finally getting to us. We changed into our pajamas and the four of us brushed our teeth. The twins fell asleep almost instantly while Bella and I both felt the nerves of fitting into a new school.

"Okay, promise me you'll sit with me at lunch!" I asked her seriously.

"Only if you promise me the same!" She fired back equally nervous.

"Deal."

"Do you think we'll be in any classes together?" She asked with hope evident in her voice.

"Maybe. I took all the available classes that looked good. I took English, Government, Calculus/Trig., Chemistry, Spanish and then there was Gym which was apparently compulsory." I told her slightly grumbling over gym. It wasn't that I was bad at it but I hated being assessed on how good I was by others.

"I'm literally taking all the same classes except I have Biology instead of Chemistry!" Bella enthused with a bright smile at the thought of sharing the majority of our classes.

"That's great. Hopefully we'll be in each other's classes then."

"Yeah, hopefully. Well, I'm feeling exhausted and we have to get up early. Night."

"Night." I replied as I settled into bed letting my brain relax for the first time all day.


	2. The Welcoming Committee

I woke up feeling well rested at 6:00 in the morning while Bella was still snoozing away. I quietly slipped out of bed and gathered my clothes, slipping into the shower before anyone else could. The hot water washed over me as I washed my hair with my vanilla scented shampoo, easing my muscles slowly. The quiet music from my phone distracted me as I began singing along quietly feeling more and more relaxed as the time passed. Eventually, I turned the taps off and got out of the shower to change into my clothes. I was wearing a simple pair of black skinny jeans paired with my heeled boots, royal blue blouse and a creamy brown scarf. I walked out of the bathroom after brushing my teeth and carried my dirty clothes to the wash basket only to see Bella up and moving.

"Morning!" I smiled cheerily as I dried my hair with the towel.

"Urgh, you're a morning person!" She joked. I laughed at her remark.

"Meh, some days I guess." I replied as she picked up some clothes.

"Is the bathroom free?" She asked grabbing a towel.

"It was when I got out. Best have a shower now so you have time to get ready for school." I said as I plugged in a hairdryer. She replied with a simple nod of her head before walking off to shower. I spent a few minutes drying my hair before starting to brush any tangles out and decided to clip some back as a slight effort to look presentable. Walking out the room, I checked on the twins to see if they were still sleeping. Surprisingly the two had both started to wake up yawning as they blinked.

"Morning you two. You want some breakfast?" I asked smiling as they moved.

"Yes please." Came the synced reply.

"What do you guys want? Pancakes?" I suggested walking over to their drawers to pick out clothes for them to wear.

"Yeah!" Came the energetic replies. I laughed at how the thought of food had erased any sleepiness they once had. Placing Adrian's clothes on his bed and walking over to Annabelle's I replied "Okay." before changing her into her outfit. I turned around to change Adrian before laughing at the sight of the four year old trying to dress his self. He was struggling to put his trousers, which were inside out, on and was trying to keep his balance. "Come here!" I giggled before sorting him out.

I heard the bathroom door unlock and pulled the two along with me to brush their teeth. Once they were ready, they followed me downstairs into the kitchen and sat on their own chairs carefully so not to fall off. Within a few minutes I had the mixture for pancakes ready and was starting to make some when Bella came down.

"Mm, that smells great!" She complimented.

"Thanks." I replied. "Ali's making pancakes!" squealed Annabelle.

"She is? Yay!" Cheered Bella making the two happy.

"What's this I hear about pancakes?" came Charlie's voice as he wondered in.

"Nothing, I was just making breakfast." I informed him putting a plate in front of Adrian and Annabelle before giving one to Bella.

"Would you like some Uncle Charlie?" I teased as he watched them devour their food.

"Yes please!" He enthused sitting down at the table. I laughed at his childish mannerisms before proceeding to make more pancakes. I set down a plate in front of Charlie; grabbed some food for myself and started to satiate my hunger.

"These pancakes are great!" Charlie spoke as he ate.

"Nothing special but thanks!" I smiled. "So, who'll be taking care of the kids while me and Bella are at school?" I asked taking another bite.

"Well, I could ask one of our neighbour's to, but I'd prefer not to so I could take them to our local daycare instead, it's pretty close to your school actually." He told me as I thought of the options.

"Really, I'd prefer that and that way it'd be easier for them to make friends and if it's as close to the school as you say then me and Bella could drop them off and pick them up before and after school." I said as I thought about the daycare.

"Then I guess it's settled. I don't have to go to the station just yet so I could take them this morning and you guys could pick them up later." Charlie said as Bella and I began to clear away the empty plates.

"That'd be great!" I replied with a smile.

"Speaking of school, we'd better get moving so we can get our stuff from the front office without getting ambushed by gossipers." Bella stated as she grabbed her bag.

"You're right. We'll see you guys later." I said pulling my leather jacket on. I gave the twins kisses goodbye and waved to Charlie as I walked out with Bella. We decided to take Bella's truck and put two booster seats in the back for when we'd pick up the twins. Realising I had no more distractions, I became nervous as we headed towards the school. No one really had any idea as to why I was living with Uncle Charlie now and I wasn't too keen on letting everyone know. Hopefully my plan to keep a low profile would work but I highly doubted it. I mean, two new girls joining the school? There were gonna be questions.

Eventually we reached the school and Bella began to pull into the car park. I noticed people staring and became uncomfortable.

"Bells don't leave me." I whispered as panic flooded me. The strangers' continued to stare at the two of us and panic flooded me.

 _Oh God, I hope I don't have an anxiety attack._ I thought to myself as I felt the rush of fear in my veins.

"Hey, Aaliyah! Look at me I won't leave you. You'll be fine. No one is gonna hurt you." Bella comforted me rubbing my shoulder. I felt the fear subside slightly, yet the feeling remained in my chest. I nodded as acknowledgement of her words before we both got out.

"Hey nice car!" A boy mocked from across us.

"Thanks." Came Bella's awkward reply as she joined my side. Feeling her presence beside me, we began to head towards the front office where there was a lack of people. Pushing the doors open, Bella and I made our way to the front desk where a lady named Ms. Cope sat.

After grabbing her attention and avoiding her awkward conversation, she supplied us both with our schedules and locker combinations along with a map of the school highlighting the easiest routes to our classes which after a quick comparison, showed that Bella and I had very few together.

"What do you have first?" I asked Bella as we exited the office and made our way into the school building.

"English with Mr Mason in Building... 3. What about you?" She asked politely.

"Calculus with Mr Varner. I'm in Building 5 so we can walk with each other until you get to class." I said as we made our way through the corridors with the maps. Suddenly an awkward looking boy made his way to us with what I assumed he thought was a seductive smile on his face.

"Hi! You must be Isabella Swan and Aaliyah Mitchell!" He greeted overly enthusiastic.

"Just Bella." Bella replied avoiding his wandering eyes. I felt nervous as his eyes roamed over my body searching hungrily.

"I'm Eric Yorkie, the eyes and ears of Forks High School." He introduced himself offering a hand to me. I pretended not to notice as I quickly looked down at my schedule pretending to analyse it.

"Cool." Bella muttered, clearly unimpressed. Eric clearly didn't notice as he nodded in agreement.

"So, what can I tell my readers about the new girls that are cousins? They'll be looking forward to the feature." He said waiting for a reply.

"Wait, feature?" I asked timidly.

"Yeah, I'm talking front page baby!" I felt repulsion towards the boy as he used the term of adoration so carelessly.

"No! No feature, please!" I pleaded dreading the thought of everyone reading about the tragedy that brought me to rainy Forks.

"Ok, chill! No feature." He complied quickly. I sighed with relief instantly as Bella thanked him.

"So, what class are you guys headed?" Eric asked with hope.

"Um, English with Mr Mason." Bella replied. A smile lit up on Eric's acne ridden face.

"Great so am I!" He said happily clearly thinking Bella was speaking for both of us.

"Well, look at that Bella! Looks like you'll have someone in your class after all!" I sarcastically spoke, getting a helpless look from Bella and a sad frown from Eric.

"What do you mean?" Eric asked.

"I have Calculus. Looks like you won't be in my class." I stated without showing him how glad I was to not spend first period with him.

"Oh, that's too bad. Maybe we'll have other lessons together!" He spoke once again with hope.

"Maybe. Anyway, we should probably get going or we'll be late." I said as we began to walk to class. Fortunately Bella and Eric's class wasn't too far away so I didn't have to deal with the feeling of repulsion for long. I found my class relatively quickly and introduced myself to Mr Varner as I remembered Ms Cope's instructions to make sure our teacher's signed our slips.

"So, you're either Isabella or Aaliyah." Mr Varner stated as he handed back my slip.

"Um, I'm Aaliyah. Bella's my cousin." I responded letting him know of our relation.

"Right, your the chief's niece." He said knowingly as the class filled up.

"Yep." I replied awkwardly as I waited for him to assign me a seat. Instead, once the bell had rang he got the attention of the class. Fear flooded me yet again in that moment. I prayed that he wouldn't ask me any questions that I found uncomfortable. I didn't want anyone to know but as it was, luck was not on my side. I swallowed nervously as he walked to my side. Curious eyes watched me as I tried to concentrate on something else.

"Alright everyone. This is Aaliyah Mitchell, Chief Swan's niece. She'll be joining us today." He informed the class as I sent them a tight smile.

 _"Please don't make me say anything, just give me a seat. I beg you please..."_ I thought in my head silently.

"So, we're gonna let Aaliyah here tell us a bit about herself and then you can ask her a few questions." My heart dropped as those words left his mouth.

"Um, I'm Aaliyah. I'm Bella Swan's cousin. I'm from Chicago and I have two younger siblings who are twins." I spoke gently, avoiding the eyes of everyone in the class.

Mr Varner picked a girl with dirty blonde hair to question me.

"So, like, why did you move to Forks? I mean, wouldn't you rather stay in Chicago?" She asked with confusion at my being here.

"I-I moved to Forks to live with my Uncle Charlie, uh, Chief Swan," I corrected myself realising that everyone called him by his police status "but yeah, I would rather stay in Chicago. But due to unfortunate circumstances, I didn't get a choice." I told her softly, hoping that people would not push for more details. But of course they would want to know.

"What were these, 'unfortunate circumstances?'" A boy called out from the middle row.

"I'd rather not say." I admitted hoping they'd leave it alone.

"C'mon it can't be that bad." Someone scoffed. My throat constricted and my eyes watered. I looked up angrily.

"My parents were murdered and I was almost killed by the same people. But you're right, it's can't be that bad!" I replied venomously as I felt my fear be replaced with fury. Silence met me as every person in the class looked taken aback by my revelation. Everyone including Mr Varner.

"Would that be all sir?" I asked coldly as I waited for the gaping to end.

"Uh, yes Miss Mitchell. If you'd just take a seat by Mr Cullen." Came the shocked reply as he pointed to a boy sitting on his own. I thanked him and took my seat pulling my things out of my bag as the lesson began. The boy stiffened beside me as I opened my book to write in it. I looked at him confused at his sudden stiffness before he slowly relaxed.

"Are you okay?" I asked with less fury in my voice, thinking that my anger may have been the cause of his reaction.

"Yes thank you. I'm Edward Cullen." His voice was melodious and smooth and I felt slight shock when he spoke. His hair was a coppery bronze colour while his eyes were a dark gold colour. His features were smooth and flawless as if he had been designed to be perfect.

"I'm Aaliyah. But you already knew that." I mentioned before remembering Mr Varner introducing me.

"Yes I did. It's nice to meet you." Edward smiled, looking more relaxed by the second.

"It's nice to meet you too Edward." I honestly said happy he had not tried asking me about my parents. After a few seconds I realised that I didn't feel fear around him which was strange seeing as I had felt uneasy around almost everyone else. Maybe I was just too caught up in my anger to notice my nerves, but for whatever reason it made me glad to feel comfortable.

"So how are you liking Forks so far? It's slightly different to Chicago." He asked kindly as we completed the work assigned.

"It's good, I guess. I mean, I've been here for a day and I haven't really seen much but I'm liking the nature." I answered as I thought about it.

"Yeah, that's one thing my family and I were happy to find when we moved down here a few years ago." He agreed continuing the conversation. "Oh, you aren't from Forks?" I asked interested.

He laughed gently before answering my question, "No, my family moved here from Alaska. We decided we needed a change of scenery after a while."

"Oh, wow Alaska. That's nice. So were you born there?"I asked politely as I crossed out a mistake and corrected it.

"No. I was born in Chicago actually. Esme and Carlisle fostered me many years ago after the death of my parents. They've been very kind to me and I am grateful to have such wonderful people to call my parents." Edward revealed letting me know of his history.

"Oh. I'm sorry for your loss. It must have been difficult." I sympathised knowing all too well how it felt to lose your parents.

"You don't need to apologise, you're not at fault. But yes it was difficult although I admit, if I hadn't lost my parents, I wouldn't have the life I have now. Nor would my siblings." He admitted finishing off his work in elegant script. I nodded in understanding.

 _"I wonder if he and his siblings were blood related or not. But I shouldn't ask, it'd be rude."_ I thought to myself my brows furrowing.

"What are you thinking?" Edward asked with curiosity.

"Um, nothing. It may be slightly rude to ask." I told him sheepishly.

"I promise, I will not be offended." He laughed.

 _"Well, you might."_ Edward's face turned to one of shock before returning to confusion. I dismissed his reaction before asking him as kindly as I could.

"You mentioned your siblings. I couldn't help but wonder. Are you all..." I trailed off not sure how to word it.

"Related?" He finished with a raised eyebrow. I nodded shyly before he smiled.

"No we're not. Jasper and Rosalie are twins. They're Esme's niece and nephew. They unfortunately have no family left except her. Then there's Alice and Emmett. They were both fostered a little bit after Rosalie and Jasper joined the family. Alice has been in care all her life and so has no recollection of her family and Emmett. Well, his family died when he was younger." He informed me sadly. I felt pity for the Cullen's as they had all gone through some form of suffering.

Edward's smile fell and his face reflected mine for a moment before he regained his composure.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked." I said feeling guilty.

"No, it's fine. I'm glad you did rather than find out from the rumours. This town manages to come up with multiple versions of our stories. It's nice to know someone who isn't like everyone else in this town." He told me. I blushed slightly feeling as though his last sentence had a double meaning.

"Oh please. I can't be that different." I protested lightly.

"I can assure you Aaliyah. You most definitely are." He spoke confidently. With a smile I turned to him. His reassuring smile changed as a single brow rose.

"Thank you Edward."

"Whatever for?" He asked. I breathed in deeply at his question.

"For not asking more about my parents and for not trying to find more reasons as to why I'm here. And for telling me about you and your family. And mostly, for treating me kindly and not like every other boy I've came across." I admitted truthfully.

"It's not a problem. I have no business in your life and it's only right you know this about me when you have revealed something unwillingly to me and everyone else in here." His eyes flickered to mine conveying kindness and honesty. I felt happy in this moment. More so than I had since my parents died. It was nice to know that I had someone as lovely as Edward in this school.

"So, what class do you have next?" He asked changing the subject to something less emotional.

"Um, I have...Government with Mr Jefferson." I said looking at my schedule. Edward smiled as he mentioned he had the same.

 _"Thank the Lord! Now I won't have to suffer that class on my own and I have someone with me that might be able to ward off boys like Eric!"_

Edward laughed all of a sudden and I felt confused.

"What? What is it?" I asked cautiously.

"Nothing, it's just you look overly relieved." Edward said recomposing him self with another handsome smile. I ignored that thought as I rolled my eyes as he mentioned my relief.

"Well, I'm sure if you had gone through the same situation Bella and I did this morning, you'd feel the same." I said offhandedly.

"Bella? Your cousin?" He queried.

"Yeah, we ran into a guy called Eric Yorkie I think. He was very...cocky I guess you could say. And too hopeful. Bella's stuck in English with him right now and I'm so very glad that I'm with you. I mean in this class of course, not with you, I mean I'm glad I'm in your company-" I stammered slightly embarrassed as I tried to fix my mistake.

He laughed slightly at my words before letting me know he understood what I meant.

"Sorry." I apologised blushing.

"It's fine!" He laughed again at my red face. I cursed in my head silently, wishing I had left my hair normally so that I could hide behind the blonde curtain. All of a sudden the bell rang signalling the end of the lesson. I packed away my things before standing up and noticed Edward waiting for me.

As we walked to Building 6, I felt nervous as everyone stared in our direction.

"Will the staring ever stop?" I whispered to Edward hoping he'd give me an answer I'd like.

"In other circumstances I'd say yes, but seeing as you're walking with a Cullen I have to say no." He joked with slight honesty.

"And that changes things how exactly?" I asked as we reached the building.

"My family and I tend to stick to ourselves. We don't really speak to anyone but each other. But you? Well, you're interesting. And very different to everyone else." He informed me.

"Oh." Was all I could say. As we walked into class, Edward introduced me to the teacher and I managed to get my slip signed without much questioning. Thankfully, Mr Jefferson didn't force me to introduce myself to class and seated me next to Edward. We got out our stuff and waited for more people to turn up considering very few people were here at the moment. As Edward continued to converse with me, my eyes lit up at the sight of Bella. We had this lesson together!

"I'm guessing that's Bella?" Edward asked as he saw my reaction.

"Yeah. We were hoping we had a few classes together to help each other get through the day. Of course we were expecting a terrible welcoming committee but I have to say, you've made my day quite pleasant so far." I told him as I watched Bella take a seat next to a baby faced blonde boy.

"I'm glad I could help." Edward laughed yet again. The familiar sound felt comforting and I was hoping to hear it a lot more.

"So you mentioned you have younger siblings." Edward stated as class went on.

"Yeah, my 4 year old brother and sister, Adrian and Annabelle." I told him as I smiled thinking about them.

"That's quite an age gap." He mused.

"Yeah, but it makes some things easier. For example, we don't fight as much because we don't have anything to fight over. And I enjoy being their older sister. I can help them grow up and watch them learn. They're very funny too seeing as how they are both still practically babies. I love them very much." I said smiling.

"I can tell." Edward replied with a smile. In return I asked him what it was like to have so many siblings who were similar in age. He pondered over the question slightly before telling me about the various pros and cons of having siblings close in age whilst also telling me about the various personalities they all possessed. I listened with intrigue and laughed every now and then thinking to myself how lucky I was to have been sat next to Edward Cullen in Calculus or surely my bad day would have been much worse.


	3. The Cold Cullens

As the day went on, my mood only improved with every second I had spent with Edward. His friendliness put me at ease and he never asked once about my parents. I was grateful that the majority of my classes were shared with him. After the debacle in Calculus however, it seemed that news had spread like wildfire to my fellow students and soon enough, everyone had heard about what I went through. The only plus side was that I had no more teachers asking me to introduce myself but instead met the pitiful stares they sent me. I wasn't sure if this was the most positive outcome but at this point, I took all I could get. I had decided that so far English was one of my favourite lessons out of all so far. Mr Mason seemed to be nice enough and he was one of the only teachers who couldn't care less about the gossip.

We discussed books for the most part and I was glad to know that I had completed most of the reading list as it was. All too quickly, the lesson ended and Edward showed me to gym. A pixie-like girl bounded towards us as we reached the sports hall; immediately leaped on me with a tight embrace. I hugged back with uncertainty and gave a snickering Edward a look of confusion.

"Oh it is so good to finally meet you!" squealed the pixie and although I didn't quite know who she was, I appreciated the enthusiasm.

"Alright Alice, let her go or you'll break her." Edward smiled as he teased the girl.

"Oh please, as if I'd hurt my new friend." She said pulling back and giving Edward a smirk. Her eyes gleamed with wisdom and knowledge as she gave him a playful glare.

"Alice as in, your sister, Alice? I asked rubbing my arms as I felt bruises forming from where she had hugged me.

"Yep! I can't wait to get to know you and judging by your outfit, we're gonna be great friends!" She squealed again with excitement. Where did she get the energy from?

"That would be nice." I admitted with a smile.

"Here, follow me! I'll show you the changing room and let you meet the coach." She said, the smile never slipping from her face.

I let myself follow her only turning around to give Edward a nervous look. Of course, he only shook his head with humour.

Coach Clapp was a rather muscled gym teacher yet also had an aura of kindness about him when he spoke. He gave me my uniform, a simple pair of shorts and a grey shirt with the print _Forks High School_ written on it. Alice led me to the changing room soon after chatting away about how the school had been so excited upon hearing about the arrival of my family and Bella. As she started to change, I became more and more self-conscious as I noticed how flawless and perfect her skin was. I thought of my own body and how imperfect it was in comparison. Of course the scars didn't help either. I slowly began to change as the room filtered out and the chances of people gawking lessened but Alice would not leave so, without much choice I donned my outfit and pulled on my uniform as quickly as I could. I heard the slight gasp escape her throat and turned away in fear of seeing repulsion on her face.

"Aaliyah. Those scars." She muttered softly with pity in her voice.

"I know." I replied just as softly, tying up my hair still avoiding her gaze.

"How?" She asked me her voice laced with innocence. I realised that the people of small town Forks weren't used to these kind of things and probably hardly ever thought things like this were possible. I faced Alice and saw the worry in her eyes accompanied by an anger I didn't expect. I was surprised to see she wasn't the slightest bit repulsed.

"I-I can't, I'm sorry but it's too hard to talk about. I know you probably have questions but I don't want this getting out to others. Even Bella doesn't know about them." I muttered uncomfortably.

"I would never tell anyone without your permission. I'm sorry for asking. I know you said you don't want anyone knowing, but could I share it with my siblings. They always seem to know when I'm hiding something. Especially Edward. It's almost as if he can read my mind." She spoke gently.

I thought about what she said and realised that secrets could often ruin relationships and I didn't want my secrets to ruin her relationships. And Edward seemed trustworthy enough so I didn't see a problem.

"Okay, but as long as it's just them." I told her.

"Of course." She nodded before we walked back into the hall.

The game was simple enough. We were playing volleyball and the boys were playing basketball. I wasn't exactly gifted in sports but I wasn't bad either so I figured I had a good chance. As I played I let my anger act as fuel managing to gain us multiple points. In the end, our team had won and it was soon time for lunch. I smiled as people complimented me and waited for the room to empty once more. I changed back into my outfit, fixed my hair and picked up my things. I walked out to see both Alice and Edward waiting for me and let me tell you, Edward did not look happy.

"You told him." I stated.

"Are you okay?" Edward asked looking me up and down.

"I'm fine. The scars aren't that recent." I assured him as we made our way to the canteen.

"I just can't believe someone would do that to you." He spoke venomously.

"Edward calm down!" Alice scolded him.

"She's right. I'm with you and Alice right now. I'm perfectly safe and my uncle is the chief of police." I said as we stopped in front of the double doors.

"I guess you're right. I'm sorry." He apologised. I forgave him within seconds. The fact that he was so protective of a girl that he had just met showed how kind hearted he was.

"It's fine. Just try not to overreact again. Please." I pleaded.

"I'll try." He smiled.

With that we all walked in. I found Bella instantly and excused myself to sit with her. Alice and Edward waved goodbye as I walked over to the table Bella was at. I noticed that unfortunately Eric was sitting with her too along with a few other familiar faces.

I sat down next to her, smiling softly as I asked how her day had been.

"It's been okay I guess. This is Mike, Jessica and Angela and you already know Eric." She introduced to me as I smiled at each of them.

"Unfortunately." I whispered to her as she began to giggle. All of a sudden, I heard a deep booming laughter erupt from a boy across the room. I looked over to see Edward and his siblings sitting at a table together. A boy, or rather a very manly looking boy, with black curly hair was laughing to himself while the other members of the table just shook their head at him. That must be Emmett, seeing as the only other girl would be Rosalie and if she was a twin as Edward mentioned then it was likely that the other blonde had to be Jasper.

I noticed Bella look in their direction and almost immediately you could tell she was enraptured by their beauty.

"Y'know Bells, it's rude to stare." I whispered, as I stole a grape from her tray. With that I felt her elbow me gently and her face was all too soon covered with a red blush.

"Shut up!" She muttered embarrassed.

"So, you're Bella's cousin?" queried the baby faced boy, Mike.

"Yep, that's me." I awkwardly confirmed.

"So, Mikey, you've met my home girls Bella and Aaliyah?" asked Eric interjecting before anything else could be said.

 _"Gross, I hope I'm not sick."_

"Your home girls?" Mike asked scoffing. I could feel a debate rising but I could also hear feet running.

"My home girls!" I heard a boy say before kissing Bella on the cheek. I quickly ducked my head as the boy went to do the same to me, causing laughter from multiple people.

"I don't really do physical contact." I admitted as Mike ran after the boy who was apparently called Tyler.

Jessica laughed falsely saying, "Wow, I mean it's like first grade all over again and you're both the shiny new toys." She said. I could tell there was jealousy mixed in her voice. Bella and I looked at each other not quite sure what to say.

"Smile!" A girl said defusing the tension. Instinctively, my lips curled up while Bella blinked at the bright flash.

"Sorry, I needed a picture for the feature." She mentioned.

"The feature's dead Angela! Don't bring it up again!" Eric shouted at her.

"It's fine, honestly." I protested.

"It's okay. I got your back baby." Eric spoke sending me a 'flirtatious' wink while rubbing Bella's arm before walking away.

I shuddered as the girl, Angela spoke up.

"I guess I'll just run another editorial on teen drinking then."

"You could always do, I don't know?" Bella started.

"Eating disorders?" I supplied.

"Yeah." Bella agreed.

"Actually, that's a good one!" Angela smiled as Jessica nodded in agreement.

Bella's eyes wandered away yet again to the Cullen table and this time I joined her in looking at them. They all looked amazing together. Yes, they were beautiful but there was something about them that made them different to us. I just didn't know what it was.

"Who are they?" Bella asked acting nonchalant.

"The Cullens." Angela told her before I could say anything.

"They're um, Dr and Mrs Cullen's foster kids. They moved out here from Alaska like, a few years ago." Jessica told us in a tone that suggested they were inferior to us because of that.

"They kind of keep to themselves." Added Angela as Jessica stole another glance continuing with her story.

"Yeah, cause they're all together. Like, 'together' together." Jessica said as if it was something scandalous. I rolled my eyes at her eating another grape.

"The blonde girl, that's Rosalie," she began "and the big dark haired guy Emmett, they're like a thing. I'm not even sure that's legal!" She exclaimed. Before she could go any further I interrupted her.

"You do realise that they're not even related?" I asked shocked by how she spoke.

"Yeah, but they live together, it's weird." She pushed.

"Oh and that little dark haired girl is Alice," she continued as Bella stared at them, "she's really weird." She said absently. I felt slightly angered and was about to protest when Jessica carried on without a care.

"And she's with Jasper, the blonde one that looks like he's in pain. Dr Cullen's like this foster dad slash matchmaker." She chuckled and I could tell she envied the Cullens.

"Maybe he'll adopt me!" joked Angela.

"Who's the one with the reddish brown hair?" asked Bella as she noticed he had been left out.

"That's Edward Cullen, he's totally gorgeous, obviously, but apparently nobody here's good enough for him. Like I care, you know? So, yeah. Seriously, like, don't waste your time." Jessica said with bitterness.

 _"I wonder how many times she got rejected by him, I'll have to ask him later."_ I thought to myself as I saw Edward smirk.

"You know, Edward and Alice are actually really nice. I haven't met the others but I'm sure they're just as nice." I said defending them.

"Wait, you've spoken to them?" Jessica asked with shock.

I nodded my head.

"So far I've had every lesson with Edward and gym with Alice." I admitted.

"Oh my God! How'd you do it?" She squealed scooting towards me.

"Do what?" I asked nervously.

"Get Edward to talk to you." She said as if it was obvious.

"Well, I got sat next to him in Trig and we just talked. He's a nice guy, honestly." I admitted as the bell rang.

"Lucky." I heard Jessica moan.

"What do you have now?" Bella asked as we made our way out.

"Uh, I have Chemistry." I said checking my timetable.

"Oh, I have Biology." Bella replied checking her timetable.

"Well, we had government together. I sat at the back with Edward so you probably didn't see me." I told her as we walked to the science block.

"Are you and Edward friends?" She asked with a smile.

"I think so. I mean, he's a really nice guy and Mr Varner let people ask questions so they found out why I moved here and I thought that Edward was gonna start digging for more things but he didn't so I found that really sweet." I told her with a smile.

"He sounds great." Bella stated.

"Yeah. Well this is my stop. I'll meet you after school okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, see ya!" she replied as she walked to Biology.

I introduced myself to the teacher quickly and got her to sign my slip before she directed me to my new partner.

Emmett Cullen.

I sat down next to him and got my things out before turning to greet him.

"Hi, I'm Aaliyah." I introduced myself nervously.

"You're Emmett right?" I asked politely, hoping for a reply.

"Yep. Wait how'd you know that?" He asked with narrowed eyes.

"Oh well, I met Edward first period and Alice fourth and Edward said that Rosalie and Jasper were twins and seeing as they're both blonde I kind of put two and two together and figured you were Emmett." I rambled nervously.

"Oh so you've already met Eddie eh?" He asked not at all fazed by my rambling.

"Yes." I replied unsure as to what relevance that had.

"So who's the better Cullen?" He asked cheekily. Well that was unexpected.

"Well, I did meet Edward first and I have to put up with him in all my other lessons so if I said you were then my other classes might end badly. But you are pretty awesome even though I've only know you for like 5 minutes, so I guess I'd have to say Alice." I smirked feeling more confident.

"Wait, what?" He asked confused.

"You asked who the better Cullen was and that means I could pick either you, Edward or Alice." I stated, as I made notes.

"That's very true. Does that mean I have a smart lab partner?" He asked. At that I laughed. I could tell that I'd get along with Emmett just fine. As class ended I found out that I shared Spanish with both Emmett and Edward and made my way to Building 7 with him.

Mrs Goff seemed to be very nice and mentioned how she had met Bella earlier. I was sat at the back once more but this time between both Cullens. This lesson was sure going to be interesting!

 **A/N: I am so sorry for the late update everyone! Life has been so hectic lately that I haven't had the time to upload any new chapters or finish writing any so to make up for that, I will upload the next chapter within a couple of days! Remember to leave a review and let me know your thoughts so that I can add or improve the story along the way.**

 **Much Love, Serena xoxo**


	4. An Unfortunate Absence

**Okay, so just a heads up before you read this chapter, there is a scene written in italics that may or may not make a few of you feel uncomfortable. Feel free to skip past that part if it does make you feel that way and I will fill in what happens at the bottom**

Spanish finished quickly and I could only wonder how the time had passed so quickly, in fact I even found myself wanting the day to go on which surprised me considering the start I had to the day. But then again, when you meet wonderful human beings such as the Cullen's they ended up having that effect on you.

Emmett bade us goodbye as he went to find his beloved Rosalie so Edward, being the kindhearted gentleman he was, led me back to the front office (not that it was difficult to find in a school like this).

"So Aaliyah, how did you like your first day at school?" Edward asked as we made our way towards the office to return my paperwork.

"Well, after the horrid morning that I had I thought it would only get worse but thanks to a certain Cullen, my day has been better than ever." I smiled as I glanced at Edward's face.

He was smiling happily and it was a look that suited his face. His eyes were gleaming and brighter than they had been all day and his pearly white teeth were peeking out from his full red lips. I let my hair fall and cover my blush realising that I couldn't stop myself from admiring the beautiful grin on his face.

 _"Wait! Beautiful? No, I mean, yes he is rather handsome but I can't think of him like that just yet! God Aaliyah, get it together!"_

"Well what can I say, that's just what Cullen's do." Was the reply I received.

"Right, well make sure to tell Alice 'Thanks' for me then. I don't know how my day would've been without her!" I teased using Alice once again. It truly was remarkable how easily I managed to fool both brother's with a simple statement and turn it around to be directed at someone completely different.

The look of surprise on Edward's face was hilarious and I had to try and hold back my laugh while he recovered.

"Well, I wasn't expecting that." He laughed beautifully and I joined in as we came to a stop.

"What are you thinking?" The voice interrupted my train of thought and I could only try and hide the rosy blush that flooded my cheeks once more.

"Why do you want to know?" I responded trying to spare myself the embarrassment of having to admit that he had a beautiful laugh.

"Because, I find you very...intriguing." Edward admitted, eyes searching mine as though I could somehow provide all the answers to which he searched.

"Intriguing how?" I queried as my brows furrowed. I couldn't fathom why someone would find me of all people interesting. Well, okay, maybe the mysterious and hidden past had something to do with it but I knew that wasn't the case here.

"Usually, I'm told that I'm good at, reading people let's say. But with you? It's complicated. There are times when I feel like I know exactly what you're thinking, and what you might want to say but at other times? It feels like I've got two different parts of a puzzle that don't fit or that I'm missing the middle link. You keep me on my toes and keep on surprising me. I'm not used to it." His expression showed frustration yet there was a slight smile on his face too. It was almost as though he was relieved to an extent.

"Wait. So is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Was the first thing that slipped through my mouth.

"Good. Definitely. I'm not used to being surprised and I think I kind of like it." He slowly replied as he thought it over.

"Thank you Edward." I muttered loud enough for the two of us to hear.

"For giving you a compliment?" He asked with confusion evident in his voice.

I laughed slightly at the question; shook my head simultaneously.

"No, for everything. I mean, I know I only met you this morning but I'm so thankful I did. Most people aren't like you. I was expecting a rude, pushy guy who would continually push me for questions and ask about my parents and why I'm here but you didn't. You understood me and most wouldn't. And not only that, you treated me like a normal person instead of looking at me with constant pity and treating me like fragile glass and it was refreshing. I haven't had that in a while. And instead of being a terrible day like I thought it would be, you turned it around and made me want to spend more time with you. And Emmett and Alice." I added on hastily.

"But honestly Edward, thank you so much for today. I don't know how I would've survived all the whispers and talk about me if it wasn't for you. I'm pretty sure if I was seated next to anyone else in Mr Varner's class, then they would've asked more questions about my personal life." I admitted to him as I thought back on the day.

"I respect your privacy, that's all. And I understand. I mean, my family and I have been through the same thing albeit under different circumstances and we would hate to treat you the same way we were once treated. And besides. I may have only met you today, but you're the kindest person in this school and I can tell that you've been put through a lot. So the fact that you still have the strength to be happy and kind to others is truly admirable. I know some people would become very cold and defensive around others."

Edward's words were comforting in a way as well as encouraging. It had been difficult to get through the murder of my mom and dad _and_ take care of two kids at the same time and it was nice to know that others understood what I was going through. Although, I have to admit, I didn't realise that my being kind and happy to others was admirable.

"Anyway," Edward said breaking me away from my thoughts, "you should probably hand your forms in before you forget." Edward said gesturing towards Ms. Cope who was gazing at the two of us conversing.

"Right, thanks for reminding me!" I thanked him quickly, walking towards her to hand the slips in.

"I hope your day went well Miss Mitchell. You didn't have any trouble did you?" Asked Ms. Cope sweetly.

I glanced at Edward before replying, "No, no trouble at all." After handing in my forms and bidding Edward goodbye, I went outside to check if Bella was by her truck only to find that I was the first one out. Waiting patiently, I checked my watch to see 7 minutes had passed and there was still no sign of her. I looked up at the office doors and saw Edward walk out with a stony face followed by Bella shortly after. I frowned wondering if she had said anything to him but decided it wasn't my place to get involved.

"Hey, you alright?" I asked her getting into the truck. She looked crestfallen and replied weakly.

"I'm fine." We both sat there in silence before she turned the ignition on and drove us towards the day centre to pick up the twins.

The whole journey was silent apart from the occasional sniff from Bella and I could tell she was trying to hold back tears but instead of asking her what was wrong, I decided it would be best to save the questions for home. The kids were over the moon when we picked them up and constantly chattered about their day; I was happy to see that they also had a good first day in Forks.

The truck's rumbles quieted as Bella turned the ignition off and the twins had also finished telling us their tales. I unbuckled the belt and pushed open the heavy car door to lower myself out the truck. Bella had already helped Annabelle out and was making her way to the front door so I grabbed Adrian and followed her in.

I could tell that Bella's mood had been slightly lifted by the twins yet it was easy to see that there was still pain there. I fixed some sandwiches for the four of us and let Adrian and Annabelle eat while watching TV. Charlie was working late so I put a plate of extras in the fridge before sitting at the kitchen table to do my homework. By the time I had finished, Bella had also sat down and completed all her work; was attempting to read her favourite book _Wuthering Heights_ for English but you could tell she was very distracted.

"Bella are you okay?" I asked her again quietly sitting next to her. She rubbed the worn pages of her aged book before sighing heavily.

"I'm fine." She responded not meeting my eyes. Clearly she was _not_ fine.

"Bella, I can tell you're not. Tell me what's wrong." I spoke, rubbing her arm soothingly.

"No, you'll think I'm being silly." She protested shaking her head no.

"You won't know that for sure unless you tell me." I told her trying to get her to speak about whatever was wrong. She finally looked up at me before closing her book and muttering something.

"Sorry? I didn't quite catch that." I admitted leaning closer.

"It's Edward Cullen."

I looked at her with my eyebrows raised. What did Edward have to do with her bad mood? Realising that I wouldn't get any answers by thinking the question, I decided to voice my thought.

"What about Edward? What did he do?" I asked curiously.

"He hates me." She sniffed sadly. I again paused to stare at her inquisitively.

"Did he say that?" I asked not wanting to think badly of the boy who was so nice to me.

"No, but he showed it pretty clearly." She scoffed while playing with the thread of her shirt.

"How exactly did he show that?"

"Well, I walked into Biology and I sat down next to him. I'm pretty sure he was about to be sick, he looked as though I had repulsed him or smelled bad and he went all stiff and ignored me the whole lesson. And when the bell rang he ran out of class." She admitted looking as though she was going to burst into tears. I leaned over and grabbed a lock of her hair.

 _"Smells like...strawberries."_ I thought to myself before moving away. I couldn't help but think Bella was wrong about Edward's feelings to her. He had no reason to hate her and from what I knew, he wasn't the type to judge a person without knowing them.

"Bells, you smell fine so it's clearly not your scent and when I sat next to him this morning he went stiff so maybe that's just a thing he does. But when I asked if he was okay he relaxed so maybe if you talk to him he will act differently. Besides, from what I've gathered, Edward isn't the kind of guy who decides his feelings on a person without actually talking to them." I reassured her easily.

"Are you sure? I mean when I went to hand in my forms he was in the main office." She told me. I smiled at her realising that must have been just after I left.

"Oh that. He walked me from Spanish to the office to hand in my forms."

"Aaliyah, I heard him trying to switch from Biology to a different class." She raised her voice and stood as if exasperated.

"Bella, he might just hate Biology or the teacher or it could be a number of different reasons. It doesn't mean he hates you. For all you know, you could be reading into things too deeply. Maybe it's the nerves of the first day getting to you. And if you're that bothered by it just ask him!" I replied just as exasperated. Surely she was taking this way too far!

"Fine, maybe you're right. And I'm sorry I yelled." She apologised defeatedly.

"It's fine, and if you want I could ask him what's going on." I offered kindly although I hoped I wouldn't have to because I didn't want to hear him actually admit to hating her.

"No, it's fine. Anyway, I'm exhausted I think I'm gonna go to bed. Goodnight." She responded walking away and up the stairs. Before I could reply, she was already out of sight. I shook my head and figured she wasn't too happy with me for defending Edward. I tidied up my books and any mess the kids had made before putting them to bed and getting ready myself. By the time I had got into bed, Bella seemed to already be sleeping and so I lay in bed thinking of what might happen tomorrow.

Eventually I drifted off to sleep and soon I was waking up. Unfortunately it turned out that for the rest of the week, Edward had disappeared. I guessed he was ill and took no mind of it although I was quite disappointed that I wouldn't be able to spend the day with him. But as the days got longer so did his absence and so I became worried. With my worry grew Bella's uneasiness. She had begun to think that it was her fault that Edward was absent and so I reluctantly asked Alice about him.

I remember her tinkling laughter and the conversation that followed.

"Don't you worry about him. He's dealing with family business in Alaska. But I can assure you he'll be back for you soon."

"Back for me? That doesn't sound creepy. And I'm not worried!" I laughed.

"Haha, you know what I mean. And you were worried. I know how you really feel about Edward and for all it's worth, he definitely feels the same. But your secret's safe with me!" She teased before skipping away.

I stood shocked for a minute before properly comprehending what she had just said.

"Alice wait! What do you mean?" I asked running after her but it seemed my efforts were for naught seeing as she would constantly dodge my questions.

I told Bella what I had found out hoping to ease her worries and it did a little but not enough apparently. I knew I couldn't do much else to help so I instead focused on other things.

Soon enough the week had passed and I couldn't be more thankful for the weekend. I could finally relax and spend time with the twins. It was the first weekend since mom and dad had died that we truly enjoyed together and I couldn't have been happier. The weather was finally better so we went out to a few places in Forks and came across a park that they enjoyed playing in so I promised that I'd bring them back another day.

Before we knew it, it was Monday again and I was expecting another day without Edward. I walked into Mr Varner's class and found that his seat was once again absent. I frowned finding myself slightly upset before I waved the feeling away. I sat down in my seat and began to take my things out. I was so busy looking for my books that I hadn't realised someone had sat down beside me.

"Hey." Came the sudden greeting. In fact, it was so sudden that I had managed to hit my head on the table when I jumped.

"Ow!" I moaned rubbing the _extremely_ sore spot.

I blinked away the water that pooled with the pain in my eyes and realised that someone had greeted me.

"You're back." I stated slightly dazzled.

"I am." He laughed nervously.

"Is your head okay? You hit the desk pretty hard." His eyes showed worry and I felt my heart flutter at his caring voice.

I rolled my eyes slightly before laughing a bit.

"It hurts like hell but I'm pretty sure I'll live."

"Could I take a look? It might be worse than you think." I couldn't say no when he was acting so nice and so I found him gently touching the spot I had hit my head. I winced slightly at the pressure but the coolness of his hand was soothing.

"Sorry." He apologised noticing my wince.

"It's fine. Your lack of blood circulation makes up for it." I teased.

He laughed wholeheartedly before withdrawing his hand.

"You're bleeding slightly." He mentioned and his expression was tense as he looked at the blood on his hand. There wasn't much but it was clear against his pale fingertips.

"Oh. I didn't think I had hit it that hard." I admitted.

"Here let me take you to the nurse." Edward spoke before swiftly picking up my bag and his and making his way to Mr Varner's desk.

I followed him to the front hearing his request.

"Sir, may we be excused? Aaliyah needs to see the nurse and doesn't know the way there." He spoke politely looking at our teacher.

"Is it that serious?" Mr Varner scoffed clearly thinking nothing of Edward's request.

"Her head's bleeding and she may faint if she loses too much blood." Edward mentioned.

Mr Varner's eyes widened and soon enough we were on our way to the nurse's office which just happened to be on the other side of school.

I saw the blood on Edward's hand and immediately felt as though I was reliving the day my parents were killed. The amount of blood on Edward's hand wasn't much but it was enough to trigger something in me that made me feel as though I was back in Chicago.

 _I was upstairs in my room trying to concentrate on my book but all I could focus on was the shouting downstairs. My parents were fighting worse than ever and it was all my fault. Everything that had happened was because of me. My friends took me to a party the night before and got me completely drunk. Drunk enough that I was completely vulnerable and easy to take advantage of. Things had gotten out of hand and I had ended up in a bedroom with a blurry face. I wasn't really the type to fool around with others and so I wasn't quite sure how I had ended up in that room._

 _I remember every detail except for his face. I remember feeling weak and overpowered. His hands roamed over my face before travelling down my body. His hands glided over every inch of my skin and I shivered in disgust. He tugged the hem of my dress up but I placed my hand over his saying no. I pleaded him to stop and even screamed. I was glad that my screams were heard and that one boy was sober enough to pull him off of me. I couldn't remember anything after that but that same boy drove me home safely after getting me sober. My mother was furious and grounded me but not before saying that it was my fault that I had gotten into that situation in the first place and if it wasn't for that sober boy, I would be in an even worse place than I am now. I cried silently while she shouted at me; eventually sent me to my room._

Before I could continue with my memories, I felt a pair of cold hands on my face and Edward's topaz eyes were searching mine. I jumped slightly, recoiling from his touch before I fully realised where I was. I noticed the hurt that flashed in his eyes at my actions but before I could apologise he spoke gently.

"Are you okay?"

"I-I...no, not really." I admitted feeling breathless from my panic.

"It's okay, you're with me. What happened?" He asked comfortingly with his hand brushing my hair.

"I-it was the blood. It reminded me of the day my parents died..." I trailed off squeezing my eyes shut and trying to shove the memories away.

"I'm so sorry. You don't have to say anything else." He soothed pulling me close. I didn't push him away finding comfort in his arms.

"You're looking a little pale, let me carry you to the nurse." He said. I didn't have the energy to respond as I began to feel woozy so with a small nod of my head, I let him pick me up and closed my eyes.

I could tell that he took extra care to not jostle me about in his arms but at the same time managed to get to the nurse's office quickly.

"Oh dear, what happened?" Asked a foreign voice. It was a female.

"She hit her head in Trig. and it began to bleed, the minute she saw the blood she got woozy and had a bit of a panic attack." Edward swiftly replied somehow making it seem as though my panic was over the blood instead of my memories.

"Goodness me, set her down on the bed carefully Mr Cullen!" Was the command that followed. I felt my back sink into a firm yet soft mattress yet I found more comfort in Edward's hard arms.

"Right well, you can leave now Mr Cullen." Said the same female voice but as soon as those words had left her lips, I found myself grabbing onto a cold hand and moaning slightly.

"Or perhaps not." She softly chuckled.

I felt her steady hands carefully wipe away the blood on my head with very little pressure before stating that she'd have to put ice on it.

"Here Mr Cullen, you hold this on her head carefully while I fill in her document and call home to let her uncle know what happened." Said the nurse. I felt the icepack on my injury but there was so little pressure that I couldn't feel any pain but instead the feeling of coolness spreading. I heard feet shuffling and realised it was just me and Edward.

He squeezed my hand comfortingly and murmured that I should get some rest and soon enough I had succumbed to darkness.

*Time Skip*

I yawned quietly as my eyes fluttered open and adjusted to the light. I was feeling well-rested but couldn't remember where I was.

"Feeling better?" Asked a slightly amused Edward sitting behind me.

I jumped slightly and placed a hand over my racing heart as he chuckled deeply. I remembered the incident from this morning and narrowed my eyes playfully.

"You, Cullen, have got to stop doing that to me!" I scolded lightly.

"It's not intentional but I'll keep that request in mind." He smiled.

"Thanks." Was my sarcastic reply.

"So are you? Feeling better that is." He asked looking concerned.

"Yeah, I'm feeling tons better." I replied honestly with a smile.

"Why are you still here by the way? Not that I don't mind the company!" I blushed, realizing how rude I had sounded.

"Well, you fell asleep holding my hand and Ms. Rose said it was probably best to stay considering you're new and might've felt disoriented when you wake up." He admitted with a grin on his face. I blushed even harder than I thought was possible when he revealed that I had held his hand in my sleep.

"Oh." Was the oh-so intelligent response I had thought up in response. Clearly my flustered response was not as intelligent as I had wished and instead elicited laughter from Edward. I rolled my eyes as I sat up before facing him once more to ask what lesson we had now. I was hoping that I hadn't missed too much of our first lesson but apparently it was almost 3rd period.

"How are we gonna catch up?" I asked hoping that we hadn't missed much.

"It'll be easy enough. We were only doing a review in Mr Varner's class and we don't do all that much in Government." He said confidently.

"Well, I guess that's true..." I trailed off considering his words.

"Do you think Bella noticed I was missing?" I asked hoping she wouldn't worry about me.

"No, she sits too far forward in class and we sit right at the back so she probably won't notice."

 _"Thank God!"_ I thought with relief. No need to get her worked up over small things.

"Um, speaking of Bella. She kinda sorta maybe thinks you hate her..." I mentioned awkwardly.

Edward nodded his head silently showing his acknowledgment.

"Is there any reason you would hate her?" I asked nonchalantly trying to provoke him to answer me.

"Not really." Was the small response.

"That implies that you feel some kind of negative emotion towards her." I replied holding back the eye roll as I spoke.

He stopped walking and stood for a moment before turning to me.

"It's not that I feel negative emotions towards her." He started before frowning clearly trying to think of how to continue.

"Then what is it because your absence has made her feel worse and then there's also the fact that she thought you were trying to switch out of Biology because of her." I mentioned hoping he would give me some answers.

"I just find Biology too easy. It feels as though I already know what we're being taught so I was looking for a more challenging class. And my absence was due t-"

"Due to family business back in Alaska. I know, Alice mentioned it." I cut him off.

"Look, I believe you but can you explain that to Bella please? Or else she'll continue thinking you hate her. And try not to do that body tensing thing." At that he rolled his eyes before following me to English.

"I'll try my best." He murmured as I handed Mr Mason a note that let him know of my injuries and our absence in the last two lessons not that any of the teacher's did a roll call.

After addressing the subject of Bella we moved on and began working on the work assigned as though the subject hadn't rose in the first place. It was easy to fall back into what seemed a normal atmosphere for us and although he had been gone for the past week, his presence seemed to make me forget that.

Every class that led up to lunch passed in the same manner and I felt at ease. We had just finished up gym in which the girls and boys played dodgeball and I found myself fortunate enough to be on the winning team which I happily rubbed in Edward's face as me and Alice met him outside.

The three of us decided to take the shortcut to the canteen chattering mindlessly. As we walked out I noticed white fluff falling from the sky; settling on the floor.

"It's snowing!" I squealed in delight.

"You like it?" Alice asked.

"I love the snow! It makes everything look so much more pure and delicate. And the twins love being able to play in it." I stated with a smile lightly tredding on the white blanket.

"Did it snow much back in Chicago?" Alice asked curiously as she followed.

"Oh yeah, definitely! I mean not as much as it used to but it was enough I guess." I carefully dodged being hit by a snowball before quickly crossing to the doors of the canteen.

"Well, you're probably gonna enjoy winter in Forks. It never fails to snow and when it does there's a lot." She beamed.

"Then that's perfect!" I smiled just as happy. Spotting Jess across the hall at the table, I let the two Cullens know that I'd see them later and made my way over to join the others.

Sitting down next to Bella once again, I listened to the endless conversation but noticed Bella didn't have any food that I could steal.

"You didn't buy lunch?" I pouted sadly.

"No sorry, I'm feeling a little sick." She said glancing over her shoulder. I followed her line of sight and saw the Cullen's sitting together and Emmett shaking his wet hair at Rosalie and Alice who was using her tray as a shield.

"And by sick you mean that Edward's making you feel nervous." I whispered into her ear.

"Bella what are you staring at?" asked Jess and as soon as those words were out of her mouth, Edward caught our eyes. Bella quickly dropped her hair shielding her face while I smiled at the fact that Edward didn't seem to be glaring rudely and instead looked inquisitive.

"Edward Cullen is staring at you!" Jess squealed in shock.

"Wanna scream any louder Jess? I'm not quite sure if he heard you." I deadpanned. It honestly irritated me to no ends how childlike she was acting over one boy.

I stood up rolling my eyes and walked away to get some food for myself. Unfortunately, I was one of the last people to get any, so my choices were limited. I wrinkled my nose at the sight of the sandwiches and started contemplating whether there was anything worthwhile eating.

 _"Man, I was so hungry!"_ I thought to myself, sulking, as I began to turn away only having to stop to ensure I didn't collide with a shoulder.

"Careful there, you don't want another injury do you?" A lighthearted voice asked.

"And how exactly would walking into a shoulder give me an injury?" I asked tilting my head upwards.

"Well, I guess you'll find out when it happens." Came the reply.

I shook my head not sure how to reply.

"So what brings you over here Edward? I mean I know I'm the most amazing person you've ever met but surely I can't be so great that you have to constantly be in my presence?" I teased lightly. He chuckled at my words and I found myself admiring his smile once more.

"I'm sorry but you are mistaken. We both know that I'm more amazing than you and therefore do not need to be in your presence but merely deemed you worthy enough to be in mine." He easily replied with a handsome grin on his face.

 _"Okay, I gotta admit, that was a pretty awesome comeback..."_ I thought to myself slightly shocked at how quickly he had come up with that.

"Well, that was unexpected." I blinked still comprehending his words.

"What can I say, that just proves how great I am." He sniggered.

"Okay then, Edward the Great, why are you actually here." I asked rolling my eyes at his little joke.

"Well, I was heading over here to throw my food away but then I noticed you were standing here and you looked like you were making the hardest choice of your life so I thought I'd ask if you were okay." He admitted holding his tray of untouched food awkwardly.

"You're absolutely right. I was making the hardest choice of my life. I was deciding whether I should actually eat any of the food that's left here or go and starve for the rest of the day and so I chose the latter. But you sir, may have just made things easier..." I trailed off eyeing his tray of food.

"Really? And how would that be?" He asked raising an eyebrow in humour as he followed my wandering gaze.

"Well, you see. You have a tray of food." I stated.

"You're right. I do." He deadpanned.

"And that tray of food, I believe is untouched."

"You are correct."

"And you were about to throw it away, but you came across a poor soul who is starving and would really appreciate if you gave her said tray of food." I stated casually all the while giving him a pleading look.

"Is that so?" He laughed.

"It is." I confirmed nodding my head hopefully.

"Well then. I guess you can have my food. Wouldn't want you to starve now would I?" He joked holding out the tray to me so that I could take it.

"No! You wouldn't!" I answered taking the tray happily, glad that I had a meal now. "You really are Edward the Great." I sighed before walking over to my table.

I picked up the burger from the plate before happily biting into it and letting my hunger dissipate. As I chewed on it, I noticed Jessica gaping at me in shock.

"Jess, you're gonna end up drooling if you leave your mouth open any longer." I said taking another bite.

"You spoke to Edward Cullen."

"Really, I thought I was talking to a brick wall." I muttered.

"He actually looked like he enjoyed the conversation." She again stated the obvious.

"Well, believe it or not, some people actually think what I have to say is interesting." I replied fighting the need to roll my eyes.

"And he gave you his food!" She squealed.

"Jeez Jess, I was there! I don't need you to tell me all of this!" I responded exasperatedly.

"I'm sorry! It's just that, well I've never seen Edward Cullen talk to anyone but his siblings and even then, when people usually talk to him he just ignores them or something." She told me leaning forward as if waiting for me to tell her something of great importance.

"Well, there's a first time for everything I guess. And you're probably exaggerating about how he responds, not to mention he spoke to me first." I told her finishing the burger.

"He did?" She asked shocked.

"Well yeah."

"Why would he do that?" She asked clearly talking to herself but unfortunately she was loud enough for me to hear.

"Well probably because I'm his friend and a classmate he shares the majority of his lessons with. But either way it doesn't matter and is none of your business." I glared at her, annoyed with the fact that she identified the possibility of Edward and I talking strange in some sort of way.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. It's just that Edward doesn't usually have any other friends let alone female friends nor does he really talk to other people."

 _"This girl is really pissing me off!"_ I thought angrily. I felt Bella grab my clenched fist and slowly I calmed myself down realising she had quietly been watching this unfold. I took in a deep breath and smiled.

"Maybe that's because he hates the thought of having to deal with shallow people like you. I certainly do. But it's okay Jess, I get it. You got rejected and it hurt. But just because you can still feel that sting of rejection, doesn't mean you should try and make others feel that same pain by telling them that if you weren't worth his time and attention that they aren't. Yes, I talked to Edward but that's what friends do so stop acting jealous. Especially over something you have no right to feel jealous about." With that I found Jessica looking at me astoundedly, Angela holding back a smile while the boys just looked shocked. I finished off my food and stood up with a clumsy Bella following.

"See you later guys." She muttered, awkwardly waving as she followed me.

We walked through the doors in silence until she spoke up,

"I can't believe that just happened." I bit my lip letting the event sink in.

 _"Oh my god, I am such a horrible person..."_ I thought groaning with regret.

"Bella I'm so stupid! Why did I say all of that? Jess is gonna hate me forever!" I moaned placing my hands over my face.

"She won't hate you. And if I'm being honest, she kinda had it coming. She was being out of line and all you did was speak the truth and defend a friend." She assured me rubbing my arm like I had when I consoled her.

"I guess but I still feel horrible." I admitted as I thought of what I had said.

"You could always apologise to her?" Bella suggested.

"I guess. It'll have to wait till tomorrow though." I stopped in my tracks as we came halfway down the corridor.

Bella looked down at her pale wrist adorned with her watch before pulling her bag slightly higher onto her shoulder.

"I have to go. Biology's in the other direction and I don't want to be late."

"That's fine. By the way, you don't have to worry about Edward glaring at you or anything. Trust me, you'll be fine!" I assured her as she tugged a lock of hair upon hearing his name.

"Why would I be worrying about Edward?" She asked nervously.

"Bella." I scolded as she tried to hide her feelings from me.

"Sorry, anyway, I'll catch you later." She walked in the opposite direction, taking cautious steps towards her class.

I rolled my eyes and began to make my way to class with Emmett.

 _"Great. First I hit my head on a table and end up in the nurse's office because of Edward and then I end up snapping at Jess because of Edward and now I have class with his overly excited brother? This is gonna be exhausting."_ I groaned hoping that fate would be kind to me. Walking through the doors, I saw a grinning Emmett bouncing up and down in his seat.

 _"Oh Dear Lord. This is gonna be fun."_ I thought to myself tiredly as I went to sit down.

 **Okay so, the scene written italics was a flashback that Aaliyah had. It's back to when her parents were still alive. She went to a party with her friends and got drunk and somehow ended up in a room with a guy whose face she doesn't remember. He got quite touchy with her and very nearly took advantage of her but thankfully someone heard her screams and drove her home after ripping the other guy off of her. Her mother then proceeded to scold and ground Aaliyah for getting drunk and said she should be thankful she wasn't in a worse position right now.**


	5. Saved By The Cullen

Just as I had previously thought, class with Emmett had worn me down a little but with Edward joining us in our final period, he had been reigned in enough to leave me with some energy. Although I had to admit, Edward had been acting rather peculiar throughout the class but ultimately I had just ignored it thinking that I was seeing things differently in my tired state.

I walked out toward the parking lot with the two male Cullens dipping in and out of the ongoing conversation about what we had just learned which had then escalated into something entirely different.

As we reached Edward's shiny Volvo, I said goodbye and smiled at Alice who had been waiting by the car with Jasper and made my way to the rusty old Chevy that Bella adored so much.

I clambered into the passenger seat quietly (Bella had decided to leave it unlocked so that I wouldn't have to wait in the cold if I got here before her) and sat my heavy bag of books down by my feet. Glad to be out of the cold for now, I welcomed the warmth which had added to my fatigued state and leaned my head back relaxing into my seat. Just as my eyes closed and I started to drift off, I was startled by a slamming car door accompanied by a cold breeze. I jumped startled and snapped my eyes open to see Bella smiling happily to herself.

" _At least one of us is in a happy mood."_ I thought to myself as I felt her switch the heater on.

"You look happy." I noted as I relaxed back into my seat.

"Probably cause I am." Was the short reply I received before the roaring of the engine filled the silence.

"That's good." I mentioned before closing my eyes again. I felt Bella slowly pulling out of the parking spot before suddenly the car screeched to a stop.

I snapped my eyes open once more, all traces of fatigue gone before yelling, "Jesus Christ Bella!"

"Sorry! I almost hit that Toyota! I'll try to be a bit more careful." She apologised before continuing out of the car park. As we passed Edward's Volvo, I looked out of the window and I could swear that he had been laughing at what had just happened.

The day went on like all the others had so far with exception of not having to pick up the twins seeing as Charlie had already done that on his way back from work- he had a shorter shift than usual.

I had caught up on all schoolwork that I had and even managed to get ahead and start learning the next chapter of some of the subjects and so I found myself sitting at the desk in our room with my sketchbook and my pencils.

Art of any kind had always been something that I found comfort in. Whether it be music, drawing, dance or photography, there was just something about it that brought me peace. I let my thoughts drift as my hands glided with ease and all I could think about was how Jess would react to my words. I mean, yes she deserved it but surely I could've said it nicely. I just hoped that she'd let me apologise to her.

Looking down as my hands slowed, I noticed a familiar pair of eyes looking back at me yet I couldn't quite place why they were so familiar. I frowned as I thought about who's they could be but when no face came to mind I gave up on the thought and put my work aside to get the twins to bed.

Seeing as they were worn out from all the running around they had done while downstairs, it didn't take up much to get them to sleep and soon enough I was snuggled under my covers and dreamt of a pair of eyes.

Opening my eyes the next morning, I had noticed something was different. It was much brighter than the day before and seemed a lot clearer too. I left the comfort of my bed and walked over to the window squinting slightly before a grin broke out on my face.

" _YAAAAAY!"_ I thought to myself as I leaned even closer to the window. A thick white sheet was covering the green grass of our front lawn and icicles had formed on the window ledge glinting in the bright light.

I felt a warm presence beside me and soon a loud groan had emitted from it.

"I think it might be safer for me to get back into bed right now." Bella admitted as I walked out of our room.

"Come on Bells, I'm sure you'll be fine!" I encouraged as I opened the bathroom door for an early shower.

I heard a grumble in response before I had shut the door and could only laugh at how different Bella and I were.

I finished my shower soon enough and made sure to dry my hair completely with the blow dryer or else I'd most likely get sick and nobody enjoys being sick. Gently I brushed through the soft curls in my blonde locks as I decided on a simple hairstyle for today.

Finally finishing with my hair, I looked into my wardrobe and pulled out some winter wear for the day to shield off the cold, not that I minded the snow. Feeling more than satisfied with how I looked, I pulled on my white boots before heading downstairs.

"Hey, we should probably get out earlier today if we wanna get to school on time." Bella mentioned as I appeared in the kitchen.

"Okay, but what about the kids?" I asked grabbing a granola bar from the newly stocked cupboards (courtesy of Bella and I).

"I think it'll be safer if Dad takes them if I'm being honest…" She trailed off sheepishly looking at him as he drank his coffee.

"Yeah, me too." Charlie added before returning to his breakfast.

"Oh, great so does that mean I'd be better off getting a ride with Charlie too?" I asked nervously as I began to fear driving with Bella, especially after yesterday…

"I'm sure you'll survive!" Charlie chuckled, as he headed outside.

"I sure hope so!" I weakly joked.

"Okay, I'm sure if I go slow we'll be fine." She reassured as we made our way outside.

"If you say so." I replied walking down the stairs of the porch.

All of a sudden I saw Bella slip on a patch of ice. I had already gripped onto her arm and began helping up when Charlie rushed over to the both of us, concern deep in his eyes.

"You alright?" He asked checking her face for any sign of pain.

"Yeah, ice doesn't really help the uncoordinated." Bella sighed as she stood steadily.

"Oh you must be looking forward to today." I laughed nervously as we walked over to her Chevy.

"Yeah, um. That's why I had new tires put on the truck." He mentioned scratching his head.

"Oh, thanks." She replied curtly, refusing to make eye contact with him.

"Anyway, I'll probably be late to dinner. I gotta head down to Mason County. The security guard got killed by some kind of animal." He mentioned grimly, walking over to his cruiser.

"An animal?" Bella asked with bewilderment written on her face.

"You're not in Phoenix anymore Bells." He spoke as Bella cast her eyes downwards in thought.

"Anyway, I figured I'd lend a hand." He replied checking his watch.

"Be careful Uncle Charlie." I said hoping he'd be back in one piece.

"I always am." He smiled as he started to head back in to get the kids.

"Oh Dad. Um, I really do appreciate the tires." Bella said smiling genuinely showing truth that she really was.

He smiled in return, clearly happy with himself before walking back in as me and Bella got in the car.

On the drive to school Bella looked like she was in deep thought so instead of interrupting her I grabbed my sketchbook and continued my drawing from the previous day.

Soon enough the truck was coming to a slow and I noticed we had arrived at school. I finished off drawing the outline of a face. It was very clear that it was a man. But who I wasn't sure.

"Hey, can I see that?" Bella asked as I started to put my stuff away.

"Oh, um sure, just don't laugh." I replied handing her the sketchbook as we got out.

I grabbed my bag and walked over to her side of the car as she flicked through the pages with a look of astonishment on her face.

"These are amazing. I never realised how talented you were." She admitted breathlessly.

"Well, I don't know about that." I scoffed as I met a pair of topaz eyes across the parking lot. As she handed it back with a smile she turned towards her truck to put her keys in her bag.

That was when I heard it. A high-pitched scream that was painfully getting louder by the second. Startled, I looked up in shock to see a blue van swerving out of control. And it was heading towards us. Bella already had her headphones in by this point; remained oblivious to what was about to happen.

I had mere seconds to act before we were crashed and with that I let my instincts take over.

I had already dropped my bag on the floor and with all the strength I had pushed Bella away from the truck. But as soon as I had, I became paralysed with fear.

" _I'm going to die? I can't believe it. Is this what Mom and Dad felt like when they were murdered? The twins have already lost so much and now this?"_ The multiple thoughts had raced through my head at lightning speed and when the van was mere inches away from crushing me, I felt something hit me. And it clearly wasn't the van.

The impact came from a completely different direction to the van and I felt my ankle twist painfully before I hit the ground. A cold and solid weight had pinned me to the ground and I was laying next to the other tan car Bella had parked next to. But I wasn't too focused on that. Tyler's goddamn van was still heading towards me.

The only other thing that I had time to comprehend was that there was someone else with me as someone muttered in a low tone and I'd recognise the voice anywhere. Long white hands shot outwards in front of me just as the van was to hit me.

" _What's he doing?"_ I panicked as I closed my eyes. A sickening crunch erupted and I opened my eyes to see Edward unscathed yet his hands in the side of the van that was now a foot in front of us. They fit perfectly into the dent of the car and all I felt was confusion. And that only intensified when his hands blurred to the point I didn't even see them reach down to drag me away from that car. I felt weightless as I felt myself lift off the ground momentarily before my legs thudded on the ground next to the tan car.

I heard a thud from the van that hurt my ears and saw shards of glass settling right where I had just been. It was so quiet that I had thought the sound of the thud had deafened me but then the screaming began.

Numerous voices were calling out both Bella and my name but all I could concentrate on was Edward's low voice frantically speaking in my ear.

"Aaliyah, are you okay?"

"I- I'm fine." I replied my voice weak. I tried to sit up but Edward held me in an iron grip against his body.

"Careful, you're hurt." He told me gently as I became aware of the pain.

"Ouch." I hissed as my ankle throbbed.

"You hit your head pretty hard." He mentioned holding me closer.

"Again? Well I think my ankle's worse." I replied as someone screamed to call an ambulance.

"Edward. You're not normal are you?" I whispered as I took in what had happened mere moments ago.

His arms tensed around me.

"What are you talking about?" His voice was strained and I knew he was uncomfortable.

"I saw you across the lot when we arrived. There's no way you could've got over here so quick and even if you could. You shoved a crashing van away from us." I stated with a steady voice although I wasn't sure what I was supposed to feel.

"Aaliyah, I didn't do any of that, I was standing right next to you." He said with a voice deadly serious. Before I could fight back the crowd had finally reached us with tears streaming down their faces.

"Don't move!" Came a voice.

"Get Tyler out of the van!" Shouted another.

Tyler. I had completely forgotten about him. He was the driver.

I wanted to get up so desperately but Edward and my ankle stopped me from making any advances.

"You need to stay put for now." He said helping me sit up and lean against his chest.

"But the floors so uncomfortable." I complained with a wince.

I felt the laugh come from his chest and there was a slight edge to the sound.

"You were by your car." I said again as his laughter stopped.

"Aaliyah I-" he started.

"Edward, please. No lies." I spoke abruptly.

"I can't." He uttered through gritted teeth.

"Why?" I frowned feeling even more confused.

"Please, just trust me." He pleaded softly.

"I do." I whispered letting the subject drop.

All that mattered was that I was alive and breathing.

Eventually, the van had been pulled away enough for the two of us to get out and Edward had picked me up with ease- much like the day before- and carried me to a stretcher.

"She's injured. She hit her head and hurt her ankle." He told the EMT as he laid me down.

"Is Bella okay?" I interjected as I worried for my cousin.

"She's in the other ambulance." Someone informed me and all that did was worry me even more.

"Why, is she hurt?" I asked even more worried.

"No, but it's just in case." Said the same voice.

I relaxed as I realised she was thankfully fine and they wheeled me off to the ambulance.

"Edward can you stay?" I asked as I began to panic when he started to walk away. He looked at an EMT for permission before getting in with me and sitting by my head meanwhile his family looked at him with various expressions. I couldn't understand some of their feelings and the more I thought about it, the more my head hurt.

The journey was spent in silence but knowing he was there was enough comfort. I felt absolutely helpless as I was unloaded and wheeled to another room while Edward simply glided through the hospital doors and I couldn't help but feel irritation at that.

I had been taken to the emergency room and placed on a bed next to someone else surrounded by nurses. The nurse distracted me when she grabbed my arm to take my blood pressure before scurrying off followed by others. But soon enough I was being wheeled into another room and getting multiple x-rays. After finishing up all examinations that they could think of, they returned me to the emergency room and laid me down in the bed I had previously been in.

I turned back to the other bed in curiosity and saw that it was Bella who had been laying there. She sat up as the room emptied and ripped off the neck brace she had been wearing.

"Bella are you okay?" I asked frantically as I slowly sat up.

"Me? You saved me, of course I'm fine! What about you?" She asked but my reply was cut short when another patient was wheeled in. I recognised it as Tyler Crowley, one of the first boys I had met on my first day.

He looked much, much worse than both me and Bella yet he began to anxiously stare at us. Once again before words could be exchanged the doors opened and in ran in Charlie with twins in his arms.

"You and I are gonna talk!" He growled at Tyler making his way to our beds.

"Oh my God, are you two alright? " Charlie asked as he placed the twins on my bed. They immediately crawled up to me, one on each side and started to cuddle me as tears ran down their faces. My heart broke for them as I knew that they probably had no clue what was going on except that me and Bella had been hurt. I held them close to me as Bella replied,

"I'm fine Ch-Dad. Aaliyah pushed me out of the way before anything happened. She's the one who's hurt."

"I'm so sorry guys. I tried to stop!" Tyler apologised obviously guilty.

"It's okay. I know you didn't mean it." I said to him as I held on to the twins.

"It sure as hell is not okay!" Charlie interrupted sending a scathing look towards Tyler.

"Uncle Charlie, calm down. It wasn't his fault." I soothed as my headache grew.

"You could've been killed, don't you understand?" Charlie replied agitated.

"Well there's nothing new there!" I snapped feeling irritation.

Charlie and Bella both looked taken aback and I softened my tone as not to disturb the small figures by side who had calmed down.

"Look, I appreciate the concern, but I'm fine." I assured them both not knowing what else to say.

Charlie looked at a loss for words until he caught the look on Tyler's face and said,

"You can kiss your licence goodbye."

I rolled my eyes at that knowing there was nothing else I could say to convince him otherwise and just closed my eyes.

"Hey, um, Aaliyah?" Came Bella's tentative voice.

"Yes?" I answered opening my eyes.

"How did you get out of the way so fast?" She asked curiously her brown, doe eyes looking into mine.

"Oh, well, um. Edward pulled me out of the way." I said confidently even though he had basically tackled me to the ground instead.

"Who?" Charlie asked perplexed.

"Edward Cullen. He pulled me out of the way. He was standing right next to me." I lied flawlessly. I was glad that I had managed to sound believable when saying that sentence.

"He was?" Bella asked "Weird, I didn't even notice him." She trailed off.

I wasn't completely sure if she trusted what I had said but hoped that she would.

"Well you were looking through your bag and had your headphones in when he walked over." I replied as I remembered what she had been doing right before I heard the car screeching.

"Oh, right." She blinked as she began to believe my words.

"So are we free to go yet?" I asked Uncle Charlie as my need to leave grew stronger.

"Well, I have to clear up a few things before we go. Bella's fine to get up and leave but you'll have to stay a bit longer." He informed me watching my reaction.

"That's great. Well, Bells you don't have to stay with me." I said turning to her so she knew she I was fine without her.

"It's okay, I'll stay." She smiled.

"Actually, you should probably call your mom first." Charlie nervously recommended her.

"You told her?" Bella accused, evidently upset with that.

"I had to! She's your mother." He rebutted.

Standing up, she shook her head as she pulled her phone out and left the room to call her mom.

"I'll be back soon, just try to get some rest." Charlie told me walking out.

I hugged the twins close as I tried to rest when Tyler loudly spoke,

"I really am sorry Aaliyah!" The twins woke up and I mentally cursed at him for disturbing the two.

"It's fine just forget about it." I replied as Adrian tugged my hair.

"Did you hurt yourself Ali?" He asked in his innocent voice.

"Yeah I did, but I'm okay." I smiled as I thought of how sweet he was.

"Someone said a car hurt you." Annabelle spoke with a watery voice. I was shocked that she had heard that but shook my head quickly.

"No it was an accident, my friend saved me." I told them as they looked at me.

"Your friend? But we left them at home!" Adrian shouted clearly wondering who had come to my rescue from Chicago. I laughed at his words and amended my sentence for him.

"It was my new friend, Edward."

"Where is he?" They asked curious to see my saviour.

"I dunno but I'm sure you'll see him soon." I yawned causing them to join my yawn.

"Let's get some rest." I said closing my eyes and ignoring Tyler's voice which continuously mumbled words afterwards.

"Is she asleep?" Came the familiar voice.

I opened my eyes to see Edward standing at the foot of my bed, smiling at the sight of me and my siblings.

"Edward, I am so sorry-" Came yet another apology until Edward raised a hand to silence him.

"No blood, no foul." He said with a pearly smile. He sat down gently at the foot of Tyler's bed, facing me with a smirk.

"So, what's the verdict?"

"I'm yet to find out. But I'm pretty sure I've sprained my ankle badly." I told him casually as the two kids by my side sat up. Adrian crawled slowly to the foot of my bed before facing Edward directly. I frowned with confusion, what was he doing?

"Are you Ed-Edward?" He pronounced slowly finding difficulty with the name.

"Yes, I am." He smiled gleefully. "And you are?"

"I'm Ali's brother. Thank you for saving her!" He spoke before sliding off the bed and hugging Edward's leg.

I looked in shock and surprise at what had just happened while Edward froze at the contact. I stared at the scene still unsure on how to react when Edward reached down and pulled Adrian into his arms.

"Anytime." He said sincerely making me smile.

"Are you Ali's boyfriend?" Was what came out of Annabelle's mouth as she shyly spoke.

My eyes widened and my cheeks turned red as I became embarrassed at her words. Edward smirked while managing to hold back a laugh before shaking his head.

"No, unfortunately I'm not. Right now we're just good friends." He replied softly, smiling at her.

"Oh."

" _Wait. Did he just say unfortunately?"_ I thought as my blush deepened.

At that moment the doors flew open and a young, blond man had walked in. He was strangely handsome in a way that I had come to realise only a certain group could be and by Charlie's description, this was Dr. Carlisle Cullen.

"Hello there. I'm Dr Cullen. Now you must be either Isabella or Aaliyah." Came the tinkling voice and I blinked for a moment before responding to his words.

"Oh, I'm Aaliyah, Bella should be back in a moment. She's just gone to speak to her mom." I said, slightly flustered. I wasn't used to being in the presence of so many males and good-looking ones at that.

A smirk grew on Edward's face that he was clearly struggling to keep down and I only hoped that my face didn't give away my thoughts.

Just as Dr Cullen was about to resume speaking, my cousin decided to appear walking through the double doors. She stopped and froze when she saw Edward holding Adrian sitting on Tyler's bed and accompanied by his father.

"Ah so that makes you Miss Swan then." Concluded the blond haired beauty before us.

"Uh, y-yes?" She responded with uncertainty and confusion to the simple question.

"Why don't you come and join us?" Dr Cullen asked as Bella stood by the doors awkwardly.

She took a few tentative steps as our eyes followed her movements before picking up the pace to get rid of the attention on her.

"So, Miss Swan, how are you feeling?" He addressed her, with caring eyes watching for any signs of pain.

"I'm fine. I'm up and walking, so can we leave soon?" She asked pleadingly.

"Your x-rays look good but you might've hit your head hard. Does it hurt?" He asked switching on a board. A scowl graced her face as his concern grew. She really was desperate to leave.

"No, it doesn't hurt." She sighed as Dr Cullen raised his hands to her head. A clear wince showed when he touched a spot on her head and I fought a laugh at how defensive she seemed. Soon enough, he was telling her to take Tylenol for the pain and she couldn't look happier.

His attention was now on me. "So Miss Mitchell, you seemed to have taken the worst of the injuries between your cousin and yourself it seems." He announced turning on another board with x-rays showing.

"Edward tells me you hit your head rather hard and there were also some complaints about your ankle, is that correct?" He asked in a soothing tone.

"Yes, I hit my head but not too hard and I think I sprained my ankle." I told him complying with what Edward had said. It was pretty much the truth.

"Well judging by this x-ray you have a second degree ankle sprain so you'll be needing crutches for the next 3-6 weeks and you'll have to ice it. I don't want you to put any pressure on it during that healing time, unless I advise otherwise." His eyes were piercing mine and the stern look shut down any possible thoughts of arguing.

"Wouldn't dream of it." I agreed smiling.

"As for the head it seems there are two points at which are injured." He began.

Before he could progress any further with his words, Edward interjected and informed him of what had happened the previous day.

I began to blush as I realised that I was starting to look clumsier than Bella.

"I promise I'm not as accident prone as usual Dr Cullen!" I protested immediately.

A chuckle came from his mouth at my words and he reassured me that he had no thoughts like that at all.

"Well in that case I'd recommend the same treatment you've had for the other one meaning you'll have to put ice on it for a while. 10 minutes on and 10 minutes off okay?" He asked making sure I understood.

"Okay." I agreed getting ready to leave.

"Other than that, you're free to go home. I'll go get your crutches now." Of course I wouldn't be going to school. But then again, do I really want to face multiple questions from the entire school?

"Would you like a lift home?" Asked a velvet voice that had remained quiet for a while.

"Oh, I'm sure Charlie can handle it." I sat up straighter as Annabelle slid off the bed.

"Actually, he just texted me, he's gotta stay back and deal with some stuff to do with the accident." Bella spoke nervously as she avoided eye contact with Edward.

"Oh, um. Would you mind in that case?" I asked politely as I started to stand.

"Of course not, I wouldn't have offered otherwise." He replied, taking a hold of my waist to keep me steady.

I looked down nervously as he did so, "Right, of course."

Carlisle had returned soon after with my crutches; as I steadied myself with them Edward relinquished his grasp before kneeling down to pick Adrian up once more.

The absence of his hand felt strange but the sight of him with Adrian distracted me soon enough. Adrian had definitely taken a liking to Edward and it was only a matter of time until Annabelle would too. My smile widened as they spoke softly about something leading to the Cullen's eyes lighting up while smiling wider than usual. I had a feeling this was a rare occasion and memorised his features in the short time I could.

Bella cleared her throat to get our attention, "We should probably get going." She suggested nodding towards the door.

"Yeah, just follow me." Edward replied walking towards the doors with Annabelle holding his hand, as Bella became occupied with carrying our belongings and making sure I could keep up with the pace.

" _That's so adorable."_ I thought with a sigh as I looked at how well the twins were getting along with Edward.

We managed to avoid the giant crowd that had gathered at the front of the hospital awaiting the news and made it to Edward's silver Volvo without any problems. Bella had deposited our bags into his trunk before quickly going to retrieve the booster seats from Charlie's cruiser seeing as she was the only one who knew where it was and wouldn't look suspicious doing it.

Edward, in the meantime, opened up the passenger door for me and helped me get seated comfortably considering how difficult I was finding it to manoeuvre with the crutches. As he took them from me I offered a sheepish smile as thanks for putting them in the trunk too.

The passenger door was left open as he waited with the twins for Bella and I couldn't help but observe him. Looking at him he seemed like such a normal teenage but after the events of today? Well I knew he was anything but. He was undeniably strong considering he could push away a moving vehicle and avoid getting injured, he was extremely fast even if he was naturally good at sprinting and his reflexes were impeccable! The question is, what exactly was he? It sounded stupid but there was no way he was a human, and if he had a family then they most likely weren't either.

Deciding this would be the only time where I'd be able to confront him about it, I chose to speak.

"Edward."

"Aaliyah." He responded with a smile. I frowned knowing that the second I brought up what had happened there would be no traces of happiness on his face. But I couldn't just ignore it.

"We have to talk about today." I muttered not meeting his eyes.

"No. We don't." He responded tersely.

"Yes we do. I know you don't want to talk about it but you can't leave me without any explanation for today." I argued gently.

"And why can't I? Why do you have to know anything?" He snapped with pure irritation.

"Edward please. You've been completely honest with me since I met you, you can't just stop now. And besides, I know you're not human now." I responded quietly with an exasperated look on my face.

"No-one would believe you."

I stared at him in shock.

" _He honestly thinks that I'm the kind of person who would spread someone else's secrets?"_

He sighed and raised a hand to his head in frustration and I had a feeling it was directed at me.

"You honestly think that I would do that. You think I'd tell people?" I whispered with hurt.

"No of course not. I know you wouldn't." He replied just as quietly.

"Really? Because I'm pretty sure you just accused me of telling people." I stated with a sniff.

"I didn't mean it like that. I'm just worried." He admitted softly.

"Worried that people will find out your secret?" I asked looking at his eyes.

They were dark and no longer that bright gold I remember seeing the other day.

"Worried about that and…" He trailed off nervously.

"And?" I prompted gently as to not push him.

"And that if you find out, you'll get scared. That you'd stop trusting me." He admitted.

My look softened as he spoke honestly and I felt a warmth inside me that I hadn't felt in a while.

"I will always trust you, Edward Cullen." I said with a strong and confident voice.

He looked me in the eyes and just as he was about to speak, Bella had returned.

" _Great timing."_ I thought to myself wondering what he was about to say.

"Sorry I took so long." She said nervously looking at Edward.

"It's not a problem." Edward replied taking the booster seats from her.

She stood back as he seated them inside his car properly before grabbing the kids and buckling them in.

He moved out of the way and gestured to Bella who was standing away shyly.

"You can get in now." He stated bluntly.

She squeaked out a reply and clumsily took a seat while I held back a laugh. Was she intimidated by him?

Edward got in the car and started up the engine before carefully pulling out of his parking spot and driving towards the house. The car was silent apart from the gentle hum of the engine and soft snores of the kids. They must have been more tired than I realised.

When we finally got home, Bella was the first to get out while Edward slowly turned the car off.

I stayed put knowing there was no way of getting inside with my crutches and just waited until I received them. Edward had finally gotten up and opened the trunk for Bella so she could get everything out.

I drummed my fingers on the dashboard as I patiently waited, wondering why they hadn't given me my crutches yet. Bella had already put our stuff inside and was now taking Adrian out of his seat.

"Hey Bells, can you tuck him into bed please?" I asked as she began to head inside.

"Sure thing." She replied slowly carrying him inside; watching out for patches of ice. Thankfully she had made it inside without any problems.

"I'll take Annabelle in for you. Just wait here for me." Edward said as he unbuckled her.

"Not like I can really go anywhere." I muttered to myself quietly.

A snicker came from Edward and I realised I must have been louder than I thought but I ignored him and waited for him to take Annabelle up.

I sat quietly in the warmth of the car thinking about the accident over and over again. What was he if not human? I thought about everything unusual about him and his family and realised that there were quite a few odd things about them.

They were all exceptionally pale for some unknown reason, basically had the same eye color yet claimed to be unrelated by blood, bar Jasper and Rosalie. They didn't really talk to anyone although, they could just be antisocial but judging by how well they got on with me I doubted it. They didn't eat their lunch either. What were they?

The door opened and I blinked as my thoughts became distracted. Edward was standing still looking as though he was struggling to speak.

"Look, I know you have many questions but I can't answer them with the truth. Can you please let what happened go?" He pleaded.

"Edward. You saved my life. So no I can't just let that go unless you give me a reasonable explanation." I spoke with a roll of my eyes. This was starting to get annoying.

"Aaliyah!" He groaned with frustration.

"Edward!" I mimicked childishly.

"You're determined to figure this out aren't you?" he relented, accepting that I wouldn't give up.

"Very." I told him hoping he would just let me know.

"Well then, I guess I'm just gonna have to hope you don't figure it out." He sighed and I leaned back in irritation.

"I should probably take you inside." He said, breaking the silence as we both thought over each other's words.

"Yeah." I agreed turning in my seat slightly.

He offered his cold hands to me and I took them carefully, letting him pull me up onto my good foot.

He passed me my crutches as he took a step back and I took them gratefully and started to make way for the house. But the ice was proving to make the task difficult as I almost slipped and surely would have if Edward hadn't grabbed me before I could.

"Careful." He said steadying me.

"Sorry, but apparently walking on ice with crutches is harder than I thought." I told him looking for an a easier way into the house. And apparently Edward had found a way.

He took one hand off of my shoulder and took my crutches from me and proceeded to pick me up like he had the previous day.

I yelped slightly at the sudden unbalance and grabbed onto his shirt as reflex. He chuckled slightly as I relaxed my grip and calmed my heart.

"Sorry, I should have warned you."

"That would've been a good idea." I agreed as he carried me into the house with ease although, after everything I had seen, I wasn't surprised.

"Should I take you upstairs?" He asked upon entrance and I looked at the couch before deciding.

"If you don't mind, the couch doesn't look too comfortable." I admitted.

He agreed with my statement before heading upstairs and into my shared room after I pointed out which one it was.

He placed me on my bed gently and put my crutches by the bedside before making sure I was comfortable.

"I should probably get going now. Remember to put ice on your injuries." He reminded me looking into my eyes as he started to leave the room.

"Edward wait." I instructed as I saw how conflicted he was about hiding his secret. " Look, I can't promise that I'll stop trying to figure you out because I'd be lying if I told you that, but I promise to stop asking you questions about what you did and how you did it."

"Thank you." The sincerity in his voice was pure and I nodded as he slipped through the door and back into his car. I heard the engine start up and the movement of the tires as he pulled out of our driveway.

At that moment, Bella had walked in.

"Oh, is Edward gone?" She asked somewhat sadly.

I frowned at her tone.

"Uh, yeah he brought me up and then left. Why, did you need to speak to him?" I asked slightly confused.

Her eyebrows rose as she opened her mouth and stammered "Oh, uh, n-no, um, I just wanted to thank him for what he did, y'know, saving you."

"Oh, right, well, I'm sure you can tell him tomorrow." I assured her not seeing why she had gotten upset at his leave.

"Right, why didn't I think of that?" She laughed albeit slightly nervous. I chalked up her weirdness to the car accident, thinking that she was possibly just realising what had happened so ended up ignoring it.

I laid in bed now with an ice pack, supplied by Bella, on my ankle and my head incredibly bored yet I had a strong feeling that Bella wasn't likely to let me do anything in case of furthering my injuries. I'd even decided against asking her for my sketchpad knowing she'd refuse and tell me to get some rest instead of focusing on art. With that in mind, I took some Tylenol for the pain (which actually helped substantially) and slept early in the hopes that I'd wake up in the morning feeling well rested.

What I didn't realise was that I'd instead lose sleep dreaming about Edward Cullen and his impossible abilities.

Here's another chapter! This is where things get interesting! Enjoy the read and leave comments on your thoughts!

Much Love, Serena xoxo


	6. Problematic People

Darkness filled every corner and crevice. I searched blindly trying to grip onto my surroundings but everything was constantly changing, fading in and out of existence. The only solidarity was the fear of darkness I found myself drowning in. Until something else appeared. A figure of light. Drifting in the distance. I found myself focusing on it and the more I concentrated the more familiar I felt with the figure. The light emitting from it seemed to be causing the darkness to relinquish its hold on me and I could feel the freedom in my movements. Fear retreated as the figure of purity came closer and instead I could feel peace, safety and hope. A breathtaking smile met my eyes and I finally realised why I felt familiarity and safety with this figure. The crooked grin belonged to the only man that had managed to gain my trust since my parents passing. It was Edward Cullen. I blinked slowly and was shocked to see he was no longer in the far distance but only a mere six inches away.

It was impossible. Wasn't it?

He reached out with his ethereal fingertips to caress my face and the feeling of peace calmed my mind once more. I found myself uncaring as to whether it was impossible or not. I trusted him enough to know he wasn't something to fear.

"Aaliyah." He whispered with a smile gracing his face. I felt jittery on the inside but my composure remained.

He opened his mouth to speak but before he could, I could hear something else. I turned my head to the side and saw myself. With Bella. A car was skidding towards us and I had pushed Bella away. My eyes widened in realisation as I saw myself freeze. I was going to be crushed! But again I was met with surprise. Edward Cullen was soon hovering over me while I lay on the ground at what seemed like a safe distance but I was foolish to think that seeing as the blue van began to follow us. I watched soundlessly as Edward pulled me out of the way once more with ease and soon I was watching him push the car away with his hands. Both versions of me were watching him with pure shock as he pulled his hands out of the clear dent within the vehicle that his hands fit into perfectly. I turned to look at the Edward that had spoken to me but he had disappeared. I called out his name with confusion; the fear began to flood back. I could feel myself suffocating under the emotion helplessly.

I shot up with a gasp, clutching at my neck to check there was nothing really there. My breaths were ragged and I found it hard to get them back to a level of something normal. I looked over to the other side of the room hoping that I hadn't somehow woken her up in the midst of my nightmare. Thankfully, she had her back turned and was sleeping away from what I could see. I had no desire to go back to sleep after my peaceful slumber became anything but and checking the time I had noted it was already 5:32 in the morning.

I groaned gently knowing I'd have a few hours before we even left for school but having nothing better to do, I grabbed my crutches and made my way to the bathroom as quietly as possible. My morning routine followed through like every other day with the exception of it being a bit earlier and slightly more difficult due to my injuries. My head however was feeling much better. It was almost as though someone had been putting ice on it as scheduled through the night but seeing as everyone was still resting, I could only come to the conclusion that the medication was what really ailed my pains.

By 6:18, I had already finished getting ready and my school bag was already downstairs from the previous night and packed like every other day. The only problem I could think of was how I would have to carry it around while on crutches. Deciding that would be a matter for later I poured myself a bowl of cereal and ate in silence waiting for the other household members to awake.

Soon enough, Uncle Charlie had woken up and I had continued my sketch of the man that Bella had looked at. I greeted him with a smile that he returned with a yawn.

"You're up early." He commented casually, grabbing a bowl of cereal for himself.

"I couldn't sleep, I had a nightmare about yesterday." I admitted, carefully omitting the part about Edward.

"A nightmare?" He queried raising a brow curiously while sitting up straighter.

"Yeah, no big deal. It's probably normal after near death experiences." I mentioned absentmindedly while fixing the shape of the face I had drawn.

"You can't do that. You can't talk about this as if it's some casual event when we're talking about your life and not just yours but Bella's too!" He stated with clear anger in his voice.

For a second I was shocked but I saw him inhale deeply before relaxing his shoulders slightly.

"I'm sorry Charlie…" I began quietly, not quite sure what to say.

"No don't apologise. It's my fault. I just, you and Bella just got here. I finally have a family that I can care about. The thought of losing any of you is just something that I can't deal with. You may not be my daughter but you were my sister's and if anything happened to you or the twins on my watch... I wouldn't be able to live with myself. Failing to protect you and Bella yesterday was something that made me realise all of this." He admitted emotionally, averting my eyes the whole time.

I sat staring at him with tears in my eyes.

"Uncle Charlie. You did not fail anyone yesterday. If anything you've saved me, Adrian and Annabelle in more ways than you think. You gave us a home to live in. You gave us a family. In losing mom and dad, we got you. I wish it hadn't been this way but it is. But I would never change things back to the way they used to be. I love my parents more than anything but if things never changed, I might've never got to love you as much as I do now and neither would the twins. And I'm sure Bella feels the same way." I spoke letting the tears flow freely.

I always hated showing my emotions but right now, all I wanted to do was let my uncle know how much I loved him and how wrong he was about failing me.

I gently pulled myself up and made my way to his side of the table without putting my injured ankle under any pressure and hugged him with as much strength as I could.

"Thank you darlin'. I love you too." He cried gently as he returned the hug.

As we pulled back Charlie cleared his throat and wiped his tears away embarrassedly as he stood.

"Anyway, uh glad we got that sorted." He muttered nervously.

"Yeah, um me too." I replied awkwardly sitting down to continue my piece of art.

Just as the awkwardness started to become unbearable, a tired looking Bella stumbled into the room.

"Morning." She yawned grabbing herself some cereal.

"Morning!" We replied acting as casual as we could.

"The snow must have washed away last night. There's not a trace left." She mentioned munching away.

"Oh cool." I had nothing else to say so just kept on working on the face I was drawing. I couldn't wait to see who I had drawn. It was like I could see the face but at the same time it was so blurred and unrecognizable and until I had all parts of the puzzle, I wouldn't be able to see the complete picture.

"I don't have to work until later so I'll take the twins today. You girls should probably get a move on though. You're gonna want to get to school early to avoid all the questions." Charlie said heading towards the stairs.

"That's a great idea, Bells let's go!" I said, packing my things into my bag.

"Here, I'll carry your bag for you." Bella replied as she took my things. I smiled gratefully knowing I would struggle to use my crutches while holding my things.

We made our way into her truck, which had only a small sign of being hit by a car and that was a dent that could be worked out and got to school with ease.

I was glad that the chances of anything life threatening had been minimalized as we made our way inside the school.

Bella was immediately surrounded by those who we usually sat with and I was glad that they hadn't taken too much notice of me although I had taken the worse injuries. I grabbed my bag from her and started down the hallway in the direction of my class when a voice called out to me.

"Aaliyah!" I stopped to turn around and saw the one and only Edward Cullen making his way towards me.

"You look like you're struggling. Want some help?" He asked. He took my bag from me without giving me a chance to reply and smiled as though he had forgotten our tense conversation from yesterday. But I had to admit, I was glad that he wasn't letting everything affect our relationship.

"Thanks, it's gonna be hard getting to all my classes like this." I told him as he slowed his pace to accompany me to class.

"Good thing you have a Cullen in every single one of your classes!" He smiled (charmingly might I add).

"I did not realise that but that's true, I do." I agreed as we entered the classroom and took our seats.

I turned to Edward ready to say something else when there was a tap on my shoulder. I jumped at the contact until I realised it was Tyler.

"Oh my god! Aaliyah I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to scare you! I just wanted to apologise again for yesterday." He spurted out with a worried look on his face.

"It's fine Tyler, and just for future reference, I don't really do good with people touching me." I told him hoping that it would save me from being touched again.

"Noted. But why exactly is that?" He asked with complete focus on me. It was unnerving to say the least.

"Nothing you need to know!" I smiled falsely as I hoped for him to leave me alone.

"Honestly Aaliyah! You can share anything with me, I'd do anything for you. You know to make up for yesterday!" He amended with a blush.

"Why, oh why won't you leave me alone Tyler! I don't want your unnecessary apologies or affection!" I screamed in my head.

Edward flinched at my side before including himself in the conversation.

"Tyler, I'm pretty sure that was an obvious sign that she doesn't want to tell you or talk to you in general. And it'd probably be wise if you left her alone and actually went to a class you took." Edward politely spoke, although you could hear an underlying threat in the boy's voice.

I felt a fuzzy warmth spread in my chest as I smiled inwardly at the protectiveness in Edward's voice and Tyler clearly understood the message saying to stay away from me.

"Right, sorry. I didn't mean to bother you!" The poor boy said before rushing out the room.

"I must be the luckiest girl in the world." I sighed aloud with a bright smile.

"Really, how did you come to that conclusion?" Asked Edward with a laugh.

"Because I know that I'll always have you to protect me from not only spiralling cars but also boys like that!" I smirked knowing this memory would always be one I could cherish.

A throaty laugh escaped my partner and soon enough I was joining in.

"I'm glad I can protect you." I heard him say amusedly.

"You should be, I would suffer terribly if you couldn't." I joked as the laughter subsided.

"What?" He asked in confusion.

"Well I would." I admitted facing him.

"You've lost me. What are you going on about?" He asked honestly looking lost.

"You said you were glad you could protect me. I agreed." I summarised giving him an odd look.

"I didn't say anything Aaliyah." He trailed off looking on edge.

"Must've slipped out without you realising." I guessed not thinking much about it.

"Yeah, must've." He agreed somewhat hesitantly as Mr Varner walked in halting all conversation.

After that conversation, Edward seemed slightly more withdrawn then beforehand and although he still remained friendly I could notice the subtle distance he had put between us yet decided not to question it in fear of making things worse. We walked out of Calculus and towards Government with stilted conversation and I could tell that in that moment both of us felt the awkwardness.

Bella had came towards us nervously as we took our seats and I could feel the tension radiating off of Edward. What was going on today?

"Hi. Um, I just wanted to thank you. For everything you've done for us." She started quietly wringing her hands together.

"If you hadn't pulled Aaliyah out of the way, then we'd all be suffering more than we already are, especially Adrian and Annabelle! So, uh thanks." She finished awkwardly before scampering back to her seat as Mr Jefferson began to recap on what we had covered so far.

I could see him relax at her absence slightly but it was such a small difference that I couldn't tell whether it had actually happened or I had imagined it.

"This is what happens when you lose sleep over nightmares." I thought to myself bitterly as I tried to stay awake through the lesson.

I let a yawn escape and a small smile appeared to be tugging at Edward's lips.

"Tired?" He asked amusement clearly in his voice.

"No, I'm just yawning for the fun of it." I deadpanned with a sleepy frown.

"Go to sleep."

"In the middle of class?!" I whispered nervously.

"People do it all the time, and besides I'll cover for you." He assured me watching Mr Jefferson.

"Are you sure?" I asked nervous.

"Positive." He laughed lightly.

I smiled at his better mood and took him up on his word as I laid my head on my arm gently. This time I slept peacefully without nightmares and soon enough I was being roused from my sleep.

"It's almost the end of class Aaliyah. You better get up." Whispered a cool breath into my ear.

I blinked softly as I sat up slowly and looked around to realise I was still in school.

"Oh, thanks." I muttered rubbing my eyes.

"No problem. Did you sleep well?" He asked smirking.

"Yes actually. I needed that." I admitted as we packed our things away.

"Can I ask why you were so tired?" He asked picking up my belongings for me as I stood with my crutches.

"I had a nightmare. Well a dream turned nightmare I suppose." I told him as we headed to gym.

"What did you dream about?" He asked cautiously as he walked at a slower pace by my side.

"Why must you be so curious? Now I have to admit that I dreamed about you!" I moaned in my mind before averting his wandering eyes.

"I dreamed about you…" I admitted slowly.

"Me?" He asked clearly dumbfounded.

"Yeah." I could feel myself blushing furiously as he stared at me and I had to use all of my willpower not to squirm in front of him.

"Why me?" He asked.

"I would've thought I'd be in her nightmares." I stopped for a moment to whack him gently with a crutch.

"What was that for?" He asked with bewilderment.

"For being depressing. No matter how quietly you said that, I heard you mutter about being in my nightmares." I scolded him.

His face was an amazing thing to look at. It portrayed his emotions all to clearly and right at this moment he looked both shocked and curious.

"How did you hear that?" He whispered gently.

"I guess I have better hearing than you thought I would." I smiled cheekily.

"Anyway back to what you said," I continued walking as I picked up the conversation, "I honestly have no idea why I dreamed about you but my guess is that I associate you with good because you saved me. The nightmare was mainly my mind replaying the accident and me watching it happen." I finished as we approached the gym doors where Alice was waiting for us.

In gym I spent the majority of the time sat down without changing due to my injuries. People also took that as a sign to ask me questions about what happened, how I felt and how badly I was injured. All questions that I was hoping not to answer yet neither Edward or Alice intervened to save me from the conversation but instead stood away from the crowd having their own heated conversation.

By the end of the lesson, Edward was ignoring the both of us and I couldn't even begin to think of what Alice could have said to rub him in such a way. Walking by my side to lunch she told me with a sad smile, "Edward's bad moods can last for a long time so don't hold your breath trying to wait for him to talk to you or anyone else. Sometimes these moods can last for weeks." And I was glad she had told me, or I would've suffered much worse that month. It was weeks before anyone had decided to forget about the near death experience and Bella and I couldn't be gladder although I'm certain that Tyler made the most of his time in the limelight. What I couldn't understand however, was why the real hero hadn't been cornered in corridors and questioned endlessly. Everyone seemed to admire the Cullens in some way yet feared them all the same. I also came to the conclusion that it was likely that no-one was really friends with them except for me. Another reason why I was the only one to notice Edward across the lot.

The following month Edward became reserved and I could only see him as the tense boy I had seen on my first day instead of my relaxed friend that I loved to spend time with. His words were short and usually revolved around the work but otherwise he was detached. It seemed that I wasn't the only one to notice this, but Bella had brought it up after recounting a story about one of her Biology lessons with the bronze haired beauty.

Everyone seemed to take this as a sign to approach me as Edward drew back from me and all I could wish was for him to be the Edward that usually made me smile. Mike Newton, the blonde boy who was apparently in our Spanish class seemed to grow confident in himself and would join me, Edward and Emmett before class had started. It was almost as if he was glad that this rift had happened. It was a good thing that the boy hardly gave me any room to speak though because there was nothing I felt was worth saying to him other than the fact that I wasn't interested in his failing attempts to flirt.

The snow washed away and at our regular lunch table I could hear groaning about how a supposed snowball fight never got to happen but soon enough everybody became much more preoccupied with the plans to go to the beach sometime soon. Another event that Jessica, who was still mad at me even after my apology, made Bella and I aware of was the Girls' Choice Dance in two weeks time. She made it very clear to us cousins that she wanted to ask Mike and even asked Bella permission to do so.

After my last experience and association at a dance, I had opted out and decided that I would stay home and spend the night with the twins for some sibling bonding time. It seemed that Bella had other plans too as she told Jess that she would be in Seattle and her lack of hand-eye coordination would not be useful at a dance as it was.

Surprisingly, when we saw Jess the next day, she wasn't her usual bubbly self but was completely silent as she walked to and from classes with us. If Mike had turned her down, then she was very clearly not going to be telling us anytime soon. But there was no need for her to say anything. At lunch, she chose the seat furthest away from Mike; instead spoke animatedly with Eric, who was gleaming at the attention she had decided giving to him. Mike on the other hand sat in a silence with eyes flickering between Bella, Jessica and I.

The next hour passed in less silence than I was accustomed to as the giant teddy bear of a Cullen brightened up my day. I was forever thankful that he was in my last two classes seeing as the majority I shared with Edward and therefore the awkward silence we had grown into would have killed me for sure. Unfortunately, this Cullen seemed to be too energetic to deter Mike from our Spanish table today as Mike took a seat uncomfortably close to me. Whether Edward was talking to me or not, I did not care and moved as close to him as possible to keep enough space between me and Mike. I could feel the coolness of his skin radiate near mine and almost shivered at the close contact. It was the closest we had been since the fight he had with Alice. Before I could distract myself any longer, Mike grabbed my attention once more.

"So Jess asked me to the dance." He admitted searching my eyes nervously.

"I knew it! You guys would look great together!" I supported enthusiastically.

"I told her I'd think about it."

"You what?! Why would you do that? Don't you know how much she likes you?" I asked in annoyance. Clearly he was blind to see how any girl felt about him.

"Well, I thought maybe that you would ask me." He said with a grin.

"You what?" I asked letting shock color my voice. I felt the tense skin against me relax and amusement glimmered briefly in Edward's eyes.

"What on Earth gave you that idea?" I asked with a raised brow.

"N-nothing." He stammered.

"Look, Mike tell her yes. I think Jess would be over the moon if you let her know."

"Did you ask Edward already?" He asked nervously, clearly bringing Edward's attention more directly towards our conversation. I could hear Emmett stifle a laugh at the question meanwhile I blushed furiously.

"No, she hasn't asked me, but I'm not going as it is." Edward answered with a small smirk.

"I'm not going either, I'm staying home with my siblings." I told Mike with a half apologetic smile. I was more happy that he knew how I felt towards him now.

"Why are you and Bella unavailable that night?" He asked demandingly.

"I never mentioned anything about Bella." I told him as I narrowed my eyes.

"Mike here, approached her in Biology with this exact topic." Edward informed.

"Wow. You are truly awful. You told Jess you'd think about it because you were hoping me or my cousin would ask you?" I scoffed in disbelief as he stuttered awkwardly.

"Why on Earth would I want to ask out a guy like you after what you've just admitted? Not to mention, you basically just let me know I was your second choice after Bella!" I voiced angrily.

"I swear, this boy..." I thought to myself as I drew in a deep breath.

I felt a cool hand on my shoulder and soon a wave of calm overtook me.

"Sorry Mike but my answer is a no and that's final. It would probably be best if you left now." I spoke with a calmness that I never knew I possessed. Soon enough, Mike was leaving as quickly as he could and I was feeling the calmness seep out of me and normality settled within instead. That was the weirdest mood swing I'd ever had without doubt.

I felt the hand retract and turned slightly to speak but instead became enthralled by the eyes in front of me that were changing from a golden colour to black pits. I shivered with nervousness as he looked at me with curiosity and I could only wonder who would blink first.

If Senora Goff hadn't called out a question for Edward to answer maybe we would've found out but it seemed he had reverted back to his grouchy self that was adamant on ignoring everyone. I rolled my eyes with pure irritation and instead decided that it would be best for me to ignore him and focus on other things instead. But apparently things never go the way I want.

The bell rang signalling the end of the day and I packed my things up as Emmett waved goodbye. I grabbed my crutches and my belongings before heading to the truck. Most people had already made their way out and I just couldn't wait to be walking without aid again.

"Aaliyah?" I jumped in surprise, resulting in my bag crashing to the floor.

"What have I said about sneaking up on me?" I spoke with irritation clear in my words. I reached for my bag with difficulty but again, ever helpful Edward was already picking it up and gesturing for me to start walking.

"So, is this your way of apologising?" I asked without hesitation.

"Not exactly no." He admitted with a small smile.

"Then what do you want? You're making things difficult as it is!" I growled as I avoided looking at him. It made things easier when I was angry at him. It made me feel like whatever was going on wasn't my fault even though I had a feeling it was.

"Aaliyah. I truly am sorry. It's not my intention to hurt you at all. It's just better this way."

"Oh please! I thought we'd already dealt with this. Besides, you may not want to hurt me but that doesn't mean you aren't!" The words were out of my mouth without a second's thought. I didn't even realise I was going to respond. But I didn't regret the words, he needed to hear them.

Very slowly, I turned to face him in the empty corridors that students had abandoned hurriedly. Looking upon his face, I could see how difficult he was finding it to speak. Those dark orbs of his seemed to be scanning every inch of my face while his brows frowned deeply.

"If he's finding this difficult why is he doing this at all?!" I would never understand why people make decisions that hurt themselves as well as others. But then again, I've never had to make those choices myself.

"Look it's better this way. We shouldn't, we can't be friends." He looked troubled and only one thing was running through my mind.

"He's regrets it."

Hot tears brimmed in my eyes and blurred my vision. And there was this kind of pain, an ache almost, in my chest. It felt like it ran deep within me and made the words that much harder to say.

"I'm sorry that you regret saving me Edward. If you didn't, I'm sure we wouldn't be in this mess right now. You're probably wishing that truck hit me before you could get to me." My voice wavered as the burning heat of the emotions rose inside me.

"She can't possibly think that!" I tried to reply to his words but I couldn't find the energy to speak.

"Is that honestly what you think? That I regret saving you?! I wouldn't be able to live with myself if you were dead!" His tone was harsh and angry. Fury colored each and every one of his facial features shocking me to the point that my emotions had calmed.

"Well, it seems that you can't live with me alive either." I muttered just loud enough for our ears to hear.

"I don't think you quite understand how I feel about you but perhaps this is how I get you to stay away from me. To hate me rather than feel the same way." His words confused me in more ways than I could possibly describe. As angry as I was, I could never hate Edward Cullen, it was an idea that sounded utterly bizarre and quite impossible might I add.

"You do not get to do this. Our friendship was the first thing good thing to come out of my parents' death! It was the first thing to truly make me happy. If you turn this into something bad then…" I trailed off trying to calm down.

"This isn't what I want." I heard him say as the words crossed through my thoughts.

"Bella's waiting for me." I had nothing else I wanted to say and I knew there was nothing else that I would want to hear. Taking my belongings from the stranger that now stood before me, I left in search of my cousin hoping there would be better days to come.

I found her seated in the truck she adored so much talking to an enthusiastic Eric; I quickly wiped away the tears that had began to flow as a result of the argument Edward and I had just had. I didn't understand. Where did we go wrong? Images of Tyler's spiralling car flooded my mind as I found my answer.

I opened the truck door and hoisted myself inside as Bella smiled at me awkwardly. Eric, on the other hand, gave me what I supposed he thought was an endearing smile.

"What about you baby?" I grimaced at the word of adoration he had used and felt my anxiety rise. It seemed to happen a lot around Eric and Tyler. They were just too forward and reminded me too much about- "Spring Dance?" He asked cutting my thoughts off.

"First off, I thought it was Girls' Choice and second, I don't do dances." I answered monotonously as I buckled myself in.

"Oh, maybe we can go together next time?" He asked cheerfully.

"I literally just said I don't do dances. That includes any future ones." I replied with irritation yet again making itself an evident feeling within was officially turning out to be a terrible day. Blushing cheeks informed me that Eric had finally understood my message and a muffled chuckle could be heard. At first I thought it was Bella but when I saw the copper haired boy walk past I knew otherwise.

"Can we leave now?" I asked Bella trying to hold back any anger that I felt. She gave me a questioning look but soon enough her engine revved loud enough to reflect my feelings and she was pulling out of the aisle.

Unfortunately, Edward had already pulled out in front of us and was waiting for his siblings to get into his shiny little Volvo. I could see the four other Cullens' by the cafeteria doors but they were taking their sweet time getting to the car.

I could see a queue of cars lining up in Bella's rearview mirror and only wanted to groan in frustration. A knock on the glass of Bella's window grabbed my attention. Leaning close towards the car was Tyler Crowley with a smile.

This better not be about the dance.

"Sorry Tyler, I'm stuck behind Cullen." Bella apologised slightly annoyed.

"Don't worry I know. I, uh, I actually wanted to ask you something while we're trapped here."

"Oh Dear Lord. What is it with people today?!" I thought with frustration. I threw my head against the seat I was in and waited for the ordeal to pass.

"Will you ask me to Spring Dance?" He asked Bella pathetically and I could only hope this was the last guy we'd have to deal with.

"I'm not going to be in town, Tyler." Bella's voice was sharp and I could see her patience was already wearing thin but Tyler didn't seem to be affected at all by this.

"And before you ask Aaliyah, she's gonna be staying home that night."

"Yeah, Mike said that." He admitted with a casual shrug of his shoulders.

"Then why ask?" I questioned him incredulously.

"I figured you were letting Mike down easy."

"Sorry, but I usually stay home when there are dances now."

"And I really am going out of town that night." Bella said and I could tell she was trying hard to mask the irritation she felt.

"Oh well, there's always prom!" Before any coherent thoughts could be made he was already back in his car and I could see Alice, Jasper, Emmett and Rosalie all slide into Edward's car. In his rearview mirror I could see him shaking undeniably with laughter as if he had heard how the situation unfolded. Unfortunately, before I could make sense of the situation, his car was racing off and Bella was slowly driving us home. Charlie had already said he would be picking up the twins after work so we ended up home earlier than usual. Bella had asked if I wanted to help her make chicken enchiladas and I obliged happily knowing it'd keep me distracted for long enough.

As I was chopping the chillies the phone rang and I looked at Bella expectantly. She picked it up reluctantly and from what I could hear, it was Jessica. Bella had put her on loudspeaker as she stirred the onions (with the now added chillies) and listened to Jessica squeal jubilantly. I ignored the majority of the conversation seeing as I was yet to make amends with Jess but was happy when Bella made the suggestion that Angela, the shy girl who hid behind a camera, could ask Eric to the dance and that Lauren, a standoffish kind of girl who sat at our table, could ask Tyler.

From the squealing on the other side of the phone, you could see that Jess thought it was a great idea. I stood up carefully and started to dice the chicken seeing as Bella's focus was still on the conversation about the Spring Dance.

Each second that passed I could feel my attention shift towards Edward's words. Why had he came to this sudden conclusion that we couldn't be friends? I mean, I honestly thought we had sorted out the whole 'situation' about him and his family. I thought he trusted me.

I felt the urge to throw up as only one reason came to mind. He saw how attached I was becoming. He didn't want me to think that our similar pasts meant anything about us connecting. And to think, I thought I was… I thought I was fortunate enough to find someone I could talk to about my mom and dad. Someone who would really understand and abstain from any thoughts of judgement.

"I'm so, so stupid!" I thought to myself angrily as I took out my frustration on the chicken in my hands.

"Okay I think the chicken's diced enough!" Bella yelled anxiously as she saw how frustrated I was becoming.

"Right." I put the knife down and let Bella finish up the enchiladas and instead started setting the table for all of us.

Charlie seemed awfully suspicious when he walked into the house with the kids and I had to bite back a laugh as he smelled the mixed scents of green and red peppers. But I couldn't blame him. After all, the closest Mexican place around was...actually, I don't even know where the closest Mexican was! But Charlie was a cop and even though he was a small town cop he showed bravery and courage. So with that in mind, he took a bite of the dish Bella and I had created together. We watched with anticipation as he slowly chewed and eventually gave us a hum of approval as he dug in. And I have to admit, the food was pretty good.

"Dad." Bella spoke quietly as he came close to finishing his meal.

"Yeah, Bella?" He asked curiously.

"Um, I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to Seattle for the day a week from Saturday- if that's okay?" She asked nervously.

"Ali, can you cut this up for me?" Adrian asked tugging at my sleeve as he drew my attention away from the conversation before me.

"Sure." I muttered grabbing his knife and fork to cut up his food.

"Seattle's a big city- you could get lost." I heard Charlie say as I returned to my food.

"Dad, Phoenix is five times the size of Seattle- and I can read a map so don't worry about it."

"Well, is Aaliyah going with you?" He asked bringing me into the conversation.

"Oh um, I was just gonna stay at home with the twins." I replied quickly as he glanced at me.

"In that case, why don't you take them with you too? The only other place they've been to so far is the daycare and I'm sure they'd enjoy looking around Seattle."

"Only if it's okay with you Bella?" I asked timidly.

I shared a look with her and hoped she wasn't irritated that Charlie had roped me into this and thankfully she seemed okay.

"No that's fine. At least I get to spend the day with you guys." She smiled reassuringly.

"So now that's settled, will you be home in time for the dance?" Charlie asked innocently.

I let my head drop to the table in exasperation and I could feel the same emotions radiate off of my dear cousin.

"No — I don't dance, Dad." she spoke with a tone that suggested he should already know that.

"Oh that's right. What about you Aaliyah?" He asked cautiously.

I drew my head up slightly to look at my uncle. He didn't know about the 'situation' that I had ended up in last time so I suppose that him asking was fair enough.

"Sorry Uncle Charlie but the last party I went to didn't end well. I don't do dances anymore." I admitted as I finished my meal.

With that, the night ended and the topic was forgotten about.

The next morning Bella drove into the parking lot and pulled into a space that was reasonably far from the shiny silver Volvo owned by the one and only Edward Cullen. I sighed a breath of relief in knowing I wouldn't have to face him until first period.

I grabbed my bag and eased myself out of the truck before pulling my crutches out. I was glad to say that by the weekend I should be walking without them! As I turned around I could feel one of the crutches slip out of my hand but before I could catch it a white hand flashed out to grab it.

"You need to stop doing that." I growled as I snatched my crutch back as he smiled.

"Talk about mixed signals." I thought to myself with a sigh.

"What no thank you?" He teased.

"How do you do that?" I asked ignoring his question.

"Do what?" He asked with golden eyes.

"Appear out of thin air." I clarified as he leaned against the truck.

"I think that's just you being unobservant." He laughed with perfect teeth. I scowled at his perfect looks before making a retort.

"I think you'll find that I'm exceptionally observant."

"Oh and how'd you figure that?" He smirked.

"Well for starters, I think you'll find that I'm the only one who's noticed your eyes change colours. For example, when you're in an exceptionally bad mood your eyes get darker almost black sometimes and when you're in a good mood they tend to be a gold colour that you share only with your family." I muttered as Bella started to walk around the truck to join us.

His eyes darkened ever so slightly at that mention and I could only smirk at the proof.

"Edward." Bella greeted him curtly.

"Bella." He spoke with a small nod of his head.

"So, why the traffic jam last night? I thought your sole intent was to ignore me not irritate me to death." I asked to distract his thoughts of our last topic.

"That was for Tyler's sake, not mine." He laughed. "I had to give him his chance."

"You little…" I trailed off automatically as a result of not swearing around the twins. Unfortunately this seemed to amuse him even more meanwhile Bella looked as though she didn't know what to do and I couldn't blame her. I wouldn't know what to do either.

"And no, my sole intent is not to ignore you actually." He smiled and while I tried to ignore the beauty of it I found it near impossible so instead looked away and continued our delightful conversation.

"Oh right! So you are trying to irritate me to death since Tyler's van didn't do the job instead?" I asked casually.

"Aaliyah!" Bella gasped and for a moment I wished I had bit my tongue but only for a moment.

What distracted me from my guilt was the flash of pure unadulterated anger in his amber orbs. All traces of humour were gone and he again resembled that stranger I was talking to yesterday as he pressed his lips into a hard thin line.

"If I wanted you dead so much, then why would I pull you out of the way?" He asked calmly and I'd be lying if I said that I hadn't been thinking the same thing over the past couple of days. I turned away from him to signal the end of the conversation when he pulled me back gently.

"Wait! Look, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to confuse you any more than I already have, I know what I'm doing is causing some difficulty for you." He admitted looking somewhat apologetic.

I scoffed before continuing forward all the while replying, "Then why do you do this? Better yet, why won't you leave me alone?!"

"I wanted to ask both of you something, but you sidetracked me, again." He chuckled inwardly as he matched my steps along with Bella.

"This guy has got to be bipolar!" I screamed in my head.

"You okay Edward?" I heard a cautious Bella ask. Edward was rubbing his temple with a slight wince on his face.

"Yeah, just a headache." He replied quickly. "Anyway, I was wondering, if next Saturday, the day of the Spring Dance-" I cut him off with a glare.

"Are you serious? Is this your idea of a joke?!" I whispered with calm fury which only increased when I saw a gleam of amusement flickering in his eyes.

"If you'd let me finish, I was going to say that I heard you were going to Seattle that day and I wanted to know if you wanted a ride." He finished with a tone that suggested his offer was genuine.

I didn't know what to say. He had shocked me and by the looks of it Bella.

"What?" I asked dumbfoundedly.

"Do you want a ride to Seattle?" He chuckled again.

"With who?" Bella asked clearly mystified.

"Myself, obviously." He answered making sure to enunciate every syllable as though he was talking to a child of Adrian and Annabelle's age.

"Why?" I asked, still feeling slightly gobsmacked.

"Well, if I'm being honest I was planning to go to Seattle myself and there's the fact that I'm not quite sure if Bella's truck could make it." He teased as Bella blushed. I had to admit, I understood his...concern. Her truck did look like it could break down any moment.

"My truck works just fine, thank you very much for your concern." Bella replied starting to walk away.

"But can it make it to Seattle with just one tank of gas?" He asked catching up with her as I followed them.

"I don't see how that's any of your business." She rebutted briskly trying to get away from him but failing miserably.

"The wasting of finite resources is everyone's business."

"Then we'll take my car!" I announced to end the bickering.

"You have a car?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes."

"What kind?"

"A Mazda…" I trailed off unsure of his need to know.

"That's a pretty great car." He mused with a crooked smile that made my heart stop momentarily.

"Great. Even when I try to hate him, I can't help but like him." I thought with irritation, a feeling that was becoming very common thanks to Edward.

"And I'm sure we can make it to Seattle with one tank if we take that instead." Bella interjected bringing us back to the original conversation.

"Honestly Edward. I can't keep up with you. You say that you don't want to be friends but then you ask to take us to Seattle?"

"I never said that I didn't want to be friends, just that it's better if we weren't." He said as if it was clear as day.

"Oh, right. How could I have been so stupid?" I remarked sarcastically as we stopped under the roof of the cafeteria.

"Look, I've got to get to class, I'll see you later once you come to a decision on how we get to Seattle." Mumbled Bella walking off with an apologetic smile.

"I'm tired of staying away from you Aaliyah." Edward's eyes became the most intensifying colour of gold and amber that I'd ever seen on him; his voice lowered an octave and became much more smoldering. My breath hitched in my throat and I forgot how to breathe as he took a step closer to me.

"Will you go to Seattle with me?" He asked, still intense.

Lost for words, I just nodded my head slowly as he dazzled me.

A smile graced his face before he became serious once more.

"I'm serious though. You really should stay away from me." He warned.

Finally remembering how to speak I replied, "That's kind of a difficult task seeing as we share almost all of our classes!"

He laughed lightly before nodding his head as I walked in the direction of Maths with Mr Varner.

 **Here's another update after a long while! I know I'm taking a while to upload these chapters but I want to work a few chapters ahead so you guys aren't left hanging so when I'm a couple more chapters ahead I'll be updating more frequently but for now I hope you enjoy! Much Love, Serena xoxo**


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